Tender Moments
by WalkingDeadRox
Summary: Follow the story of Lee Everett after he finds a two year old baby girl in a treehouse. He will meet many allies and enemies in the new terrible world but he will protect the baby's life at any and all cost... Did I just make a dramatic summary? Okay... the summary is barf but the story is good.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, I think it's about time I did a baby Clementine fic. I know Meg who was the author of the original Baby Clementine. This fic will have my own personal touches to it.**

 **A/N: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee huffed in relief as the gunshots were heard off in the distance. He wasn't sure what was going on. He had just been attacked and chased by walking corpses and now he was in the backyard of a house. The gunshots must have drawn the walkers' attention. The banging and thrashing on the fence ceased and the walkers' groans were starting to fade. They were going in the opposite direction. Lee groaned as he got to his feet. The pain in his leg reminded him that he needed to find help. "Hello? Anybody?" Lee called out.

He suddenly heard crying from within the treehouse. It sounded like a young child. Lee went over to the treehouse and he climbed up to the top. Inside, he found a young girl. She seemed to be a little over two years old. "Hi there…." Lee said with a kind smile.

The toddler opened her eyes and she said, "You not daddy." The girl whimpered. There was fear, confusion, and sadness in her eyes.

"I… no I'm not, but I'm good. I won't hurt you." Lee said.

"Pwomise?" The toddler asked.

"I promise. Come here. Let me hold you… You must have went to sleep and had a bad dream." Lee said.

The toddler obliged and she crawled to him. Lee picked her up and cradled her in his arms. She looked to him with wide eyes. She was analyzing everything about him. With the toddler content in his arms, Lee decided that it would be best if he looked her over. It seemed that she had been trying to live up here. Someone must have put her in the treehouse in hopes that someone else would find her. There was some food, water, and toys scattered about the treehouse along with some blankets that acted as bedding, a diaper bag, and a couple of pacifiers.

Lee looked down to the toddler who was still staring at him. She seemed like she was ready to cry again. The girl had spilt juice and applesauce all over her, and there was a terrible odor that accompanied it all. The girl must have not been potty trained yet, but it's not like she could have been. She didn't appear to be old enough to do so yet.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Lee said. He grabbed the changing mat and unfolded it using his free hand. He then placed her on top of it. He took off her small dress and tights. He knew both were dirty. He would have to go inside and fetch her some clean clothes. Lee started to change her as she laid on the changing mat. "Well… my name's Lee." Lee introduced himself. "What's your name?"

"Cwem… like fruit." The girl replied.

"Did you say Clem? As in Clementine?" Lee asked. He wanted to make sure that he got her name right.

The baby nodded in response. "That's a beautiful name." Lee said.

The toddler smiled in response. Lee finished cleaning her up and placed a new diaper on her. He checked the diaper bag for any new clothes, but there were none. He would have to go inside. He wasn't going to put her back into her old dirty clothes.

Lee picked her up and cradled her in his arms. "Will you be okay if you stay here so I can get some of your clothes?"

The toddler nodded her head and she said, "You be back?"

"Yes… I promise." Lee said. He placed the girl on the makeshift bed and started to climb back down to the ground. He couldn't believe his luck. He had always wanted to be a father and now he was going to get the chance. He was going to be a father figure to the baby until he could figure out what happened to her parents.

Lee went toward the house and went up the porch. He wasn't sure if the person looking after the toddler was still inside and if that person was hostile. He opened the sliding door and he said, "Hello? Anybody in here." Lee looked around and noticed that the kitchen had debris everywhere. There was also some blood on the ground. "Looks like these people need more help than me." Lee said.

He looked around the room for any signs of life, but it seemed abandoned. A loud beeping caught him off guard and he nearly jumped. Lee looked to the source of the beeping and was surprised to see that it was the answering machine. Lee groaned as he went toward it. The pain in his leg was intensifying. He pressed play and the machine's monotone voice was heard. "Message One. Left at five forty-one pm."

"Hey Sandra, this is Diana… We're still in Savannah. Ed had a fight with this crazy guy near the hotel. I had to rush him over to the ER. Anyway, he's not feeling well enough to drive so we're staying an extra night. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine and I promise we'll be home before the end of your spring break.

"Message two. Left at eleven fifteen pm." The machine announced.

"Oh my gosh… finally!" Diana said in a frantic voice. "I don't know if you've been trying to reach us. All the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave Savannah and aren't telling us anything. I need to get back to the hospital to check on Ed."

"Message three. Left at two thirty am." The machine said.

"Clementine! We love you… we love you… we lov-" Diana said with a sob in her voice. There was the sound of sirens in the background. It was soon interrupted by the sound of gun fire, then nothing. There was nothing left from the other end.

Lee sighed. "Damn…" He muttered.

He looked over to the stairs and he could hear the sound of a growl. There was a walker upstairs. Lee panicked. He had nothing to defend himself with. As soon as the walker got down the stairs, it would have no trouble in killing him. He wouldn't be able to overpower it because of his leg. He looked around the house for a weapon, but couldn't find anything. He ran into the kitchen and looked through the drawers.

Finally, he had found a cutting knife. It was something that he could use to defend himself with. He turned around and saw the limping horror approaching him. It was an older girl, probably college-age, but the body had since decayed into a hideous creature. It reeked of death and its eyes were milky white. "My gosh…" Lee muttered. The walker stumbled toward him but he killed it without much effort. He figured that the skull was important for the creature. After all, he killed one in the forest by shooting the head.

Lee breathed out a sigh of relief. He went upstairs and checked the rooms. He found Clementine's easily enough along with Ed's and Diana's room. He also found a bathroom. "Maybe I should give Clementine a bath. I just hope there's running water." Lee went over and turned on the faucet, but nothing came out. "Of course. I'll have to give her a bath some other time…" Lee muttered. He knew the toddler would feel better if she had a bath, but he couldn't just make water appear out of thin air.

He left the bathroom and went into Clementine's room next. He just needed to grab something for her to wear. It wasn't too cool outside, but he knew that it did cool off in the evenings. He looked through the closet and did come across a pair of shorts and a shirt for her to wear. It wasn't that cold out yet, and if she did get cold, he could wrap her up in a blanket. He also grabbed a pair of socks and shoes for her.

He took the clothing in his hand and began to limp his way down the stairs and outside. His leg was getting more and more irritated. He needed to find some form of medical treatment soon which means that he would have to risk the toddler's life to find help.

* * *

Lee climbed up into the treehouse and saw Clementine playing with one of her plush toys. She had her pacifier in her mouth. It was rather adorable. "Clementine." Lee said in a kind voice. "I got you some clean clothes. Come here."

The toddler looked over and smiled underneath her pacifier. She went over and mumbled something under the pacifier. "What?" Lee asked with a chuckle. He removed the pacifier so he could hear her.

"You back!" The toddler said with glee.

"Of course. I told you I would come back." Lee said.

"Sandra not come back." Clementine said with a frown.

"No she didn't… She's in a better place now." Lee said.

"Heaven?" The toddler asked.

"That's right." Lee said with a smile. He was glad that the toddler was taught about Christianity. He placed her on his lap and he helped her get into the new clothes. "There we go. Comfy?" Lee said.

"Yeah." Clementine said in response. "What we do now?"

Lee looked around and noticed that she didn't have much food left. "How about you go play with your bigger toys that are in your room and I'll gather some stuff for us like food, water, and some other things."

"But mommy an daddy aren home… I not leave." Clementine said.

"I know baby, but it's too dangerous to stay here. It'll be safer if we leave." Lee said. "I'll leave them a note and tell them what happened. Would you be okay with that?"

Clementine looked down for a moment before she nodded her head. "Good." Lee said with a smile. He looked around the treehouse and gathered up couple of the toys, the remaining food and water, and the blankets and pacifiers. He put them in the diaper bag, but it was a tight fit.

"Alright…" Lee said. "I'm going to take this stuff down first. Then, I'm coming up here for you, okay?"

Clementine nodded her head in response. Lee groaned as he went down the stairs of the treehouse. His leg was throbbing in pain, but he had to fight through it. Once he was low enough, he dropped the diaper bag on the ground below and went back up to retrieve Clementine. Once he got to the top, he picked her up and carried her down to the ground.

He continued to carry her and he went inside her house. It may have irritated his leg, but he didn't care. The girl's safety is what mattered to him more. If he set her down, she may bolt from him. Lee placed the girl on the ground once they reached the top of the stairs. The minute her feet touched the ground, Clementine ran into her room.

Lee chuckled a bit as he watched her. He wished that he had some of her energy. He went into the parents' room and looked around. Perhaps Ed had a gun somewhere in the room. After going through a couple of drawers, he noticed that one of them was locked. "That has to be it." Lee muttered to himself. He searched the bedroom for a key. It didn't take long until he found the key in a pillow case. He used the key to open up the drawer, and he found a handgun along with some ammo. "That'll work." He picked up both items and went back downstairs. He laid the gun on the counter and made sure that it was out of Clementine's reach.

Lee went back outside and grabbed the diaper bag. He would have to find something to replace it, like a backpack. He would need to pack some extra clothes, diapers, wipes, and a few more toys, and the diaper bag was just too small to contain it all. Lee went inside and went to Ed's and Diana's room. He smiled when he heard Clementine having fun. Some of it was baby babble, but there were some audible words. It made him smile.

Lee limped into Diana's and Ed's room and looked around for a backpack as the toddler could be heard in the next room giggling and playing. She was an adorable baby. If he could, he would go in the other room to play with her, but he had to get everything packed up and ready to go before nightfall. Plus, he needed to find help.

* * *

Lee huffed as he got downstairs with the heavy backpack. It had everything he needed for Clementine. It had food, water, sippy cups, a couple bottles, a couple toys, summer clothing, winter clothing, diapers, wipes, a changing mat, a couple pacifiers, a couple bibs, some plastic spoons, a blanket, and surprisingly a handheld leapfrog device. "Alright… I guess that's everything." Lee said.

"We leave now?" Clementine asked. She had started to follow him once he had gotten some of her clothes out.

Lee crouched down so he didn't seem as intimidating to the toddler. "Yeah… I'm sorry hon." Lee said in a gentle voice

The toddler whimpered a little and she said, "I scared. I not want to leave."

"Aww… it's going to be okay." Lee said and he brought her in for a hug. The girl cried a bit as Lee held her. "It'll be okay. I'm going to do my best to look after you."

"I not want to leave home." The toddler said with a sob in her voice.

"I know, sweet pea. I know it can be scary, but I'll be there. I'm going to help you." Lee said.

"You be like daddy?" The girl asked.

"Yeah… in a way. I'll be your guardian, sweetheart." Lee said.

Clementine sniffled and she said, "Otay."

"That a girl." Lee said. "I'm going to grab the backpack, and then I'm going to come back over and pick you up. We need to find help for my leg."

Clementine nodded in response. She released her grip on Lee and the man went over to pick up the heavy backpack. He grunted as he did so. "Okay… your turn." Lee said and he walked over to Clementine. He picked up the light two year old girl and placed her on his hip. He made sure to use the uninjured side to carry her. "Alright. Let's go…" Lee said. He limped to the door and opened it. To his surprise, he saw two men outside. One was stocky and the other was skinny. They were in front a car which was one of many cars that were blocking the road.

"Aw man!" One of them exclaimed.

"I ain't ever going to get to mama's at this rate." The stocky man said.

"This stinks." The first man said.

"Ah man… It's hot dish night." The stocky man said. They were leaning in against a car. Lee's eyes widened. He knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to move the car. Lee grunted as he walked forward. His leg was throbbing in pain. It wasn't good. Regardless, he approached the two men from behind.

"They good?" Clementine asked. He had forgotten to tell her that she needed to be quiet. Both men jumped upon hearing the voice. However, they calmed down when they saw it was just Lee and Clementine.

"Holy shit… You scared me half to death." The first man said.

Lee chuckled and he said, "Yes honey. They're good." He looked to the first man and he said, "We need help."

The man sighed in relief and he said, "Sorry about that… I had no idea you were there. I'm Shawn. Shawn Greene."

"I'm Lee and this is Clementine." Lee said.

The stocky man smiled at Clementine and he said, "I'm Chet."

Clementine gave a shy smile in response.

"Do you know what's going on here?" Lee asked.

"I don't think anyone knows completely." Shawn said. "Look, if you can help us move this car out of the way, we can get you and your daughter out of here."

"She's not my daughter. I'm just… some guy." Lee said.

"Just some guy? She's alone?" Shawn said.

"Um excuse me…" A voice was heard. All three men jumped upon hearing the voice. Lee looked over and shielded the baby in his arms. He wasn't sure who he was dealing with.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: These chapters are going to be a little short. They'll average around 2500 to 3000 per chapter. I just think that works better than the 5000 word chapters that I've done in the past.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: By the way, I forgot to mention that Lee's age is altered in this story. It won't really change anything. He'll still be his same old self. His age is 31.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"Sorry… didn't mean to scare you." A man said. He didn't seem very intimidating. He wore a red shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. "We don't want any trouble… We just need some help."

Another man approached the group. He appeared to be Asian-American. He wore a blue shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of black shoes. He was holding a shotgun. It had to have been the same model and make as the shotgun that the officer had. Lee raised an eyebrow. He wasn't sure about these two.

Clementine looked over to the two men and she asked, "They bad?"

"I don't know yet." Lee said as he bobbed her in his arms.

The man with the shotgun smiled and he chuckled. "You got an adorable baby girl." The man said. He sounded friendly. There was nothing in his voice that seemed threatening or hiding evil intention.

"Thanks… but she's not mine. I just found her." Lee said.

"Oh… well… either way… It's good that you found her. My name's Vince. This is Justin." The man said.

"I'm Shawn. This is Chet." Shawn said.

"You… uh… got some serious firepower if you claim that you're not here to cause harm." Lee said with a suspicious look on his face.

"Sorry… it's just for protection. Those things out there are relentless. We need to get out of this area; we need help." He looked to Shawn and he continued, "In exchange for helping us and them, I'll give you this shotgun."

Lee was surprised. He wasn't expecting Vince to hand over a powerful weapon like that to someone he barely knew. Shawn was also surprised. "Well… I'll see what my dad wants. Heck, if you can help me move this car so my truck can run through, I'll take you all down to my family's farm. I just don't want to be here."

"Okay… trust me… we don't want to be here either." Justin said.

Vince looked over to Lee and he said, "Go ahead and get her into the truck. We'll join you in a bit."

Lee nodded in response and he limped to the truck. However, he stopped when he saw more of the walking corpses coming out of the houses. Clementine started to whimper from the sight of the creatures. In the background, Lee could hear the four men groan as they pushed the car out of the way.

Lee turned her around so that she wouldn't see them but it was too late. She started to cry which drew more of the creatures out and toward the group. "Monsters!" Clementine exclaimed.

"Sh… it's okay honey. Those monsters won't have the chance to hurt you." Lee said.

"Lee! Hurry and get in the truck. We're getting ready to head out of here!" Shawn said. He, Chet, Vince, and Justin continued to push the car out of the way.

Lee went over to the truck and took his backpack off to throw it inside first. He then entered the truck. Lee continued to comfort Clementine as her cries turned into whimpers. "It's okay…" Lee said as he rubbed her back.

"That's good enough! Let's go!" Shawn exclaimed. He turned and ran to the truck. Vince, Justin, and Chet followed. Lee covered Clementine's ears when he noticed that Vince was aiming his shotgun. What followed was a loud boom. Lee couldn't tell if he had shot one of the walking corpses but he assumed so since he was moving up with Justin behind him.

Shawn got in the driver's seat and started up the truck while Vince, Justin, and Chet climbed into the back of the truck.

"Go Shawn!" Chet exclaimed.

Shawn didn't have to be told twice. He floored it and the truck sped off from the suburb. Clementine was still upset over seeing the monster, but Lee could also tell that she was upset from leaving her home.

"That was close…" Shawn said in between huffs.

"Sorry… I didn't know that she was going to cry." Lee said.

"No, it's alright. That was a scary thing back there." Shawn said. He directed his attention to Clementine and he asked, "You alright, sweetie?" He had to look back to the road again.

"Monsters scary…" Clementine said.

"Yeah… but they aren't smart or fast like us. We beat them." Shawn said.

"We did?" Clementine asked.

"Well… they aren't going to catch up to us if we're in a truck, sweetheart. Don't worry." Lee said with a comforting tone in his voice.

"But mommy an daddy…?" The toddler said. Her voice was cracking. It seemed that she was going to cry again.

"I'm sure they'll be okay." Lee said. "I bet they're really smart just like you."

Clementine smiled a little and she said, "Thanks…"

"Now… how about you show me how your game works." Lee said as he pulled out the leapfrog and allowed the toddler to play games on it. He plugged the device into the truck so the battery wouldn't be drained.

* * *

It was dark as the truck drove down the cornfield. Lee had a hold of Clementine in his arms. She was sound asleep with a pacifier in her mouth. He had gotten her to fall asleep about thirty minutes ago.

"You do a good job of looking after her." Shawn said.

"Thanks… I've always wanted to be a dad." Lee said.

Shawn pulled into a farm and parked the truck. There was a farmhouse situated in the middle with a barn nearby. "Well… keep doing what you're doing." Shawn said and he got out of the truck.

Lee took his words to heart. He figured that the tiny girl in his arms didn't have a family anymore. That meant it was up to him to be her family. He knew that it was going to be a difficult job of looking after a baby while dealing with this new world, but he was going to do it. Lee opened the truck door and got out of the truck, but his leg was fighting him. It still hurt to use it.

He looked over to see Chet climb out of the truck on one side while Vince and Justin climbed out on the other side. "Hey Shawn. I'm going to head home. My mama's going to be in a snit." Chet said.

"No sweat man. Same time tomorrow?" Shawn said.

Chet nodded before he looked over to Vince, Justin, Lee, and Clementine. "It was nice to meet you all." Chet said. He nodded goodbye to the group before he turned and went down the road.

Vince smiled and he said, "She's out."

"Yeah… sorry about today…" Lee said.

"Hey, that's fine." Justin said. "We knew what we were walking into when we saw you guys."

Lee nodded and he said, "Could you grab her things for me? I don't want to wake her."

"Yeah of course." Justin said. He went in the cab of the truck to retrieve the heavy backpack.

Vince and Lee turned their heads upon hearing the door to the house open. They saw an older man at the doorway. He looked to Shawn and he said, "Thank goodness you're okay." He walked down to greet Shawn.

"I thought it would be bad here too." Shawn said as he hugged the man. He must have been his father.

"Been quiet for the past few days. Ole Brecken's saying that his mare has gone lame, but that's nothing new." The older man said as he hugged Shawn.

They separated from the hug and Shawn said, "I wouldn't have made it without Chet."

"Well, I'm glad you took him with you." The older man said.

"What did you put in this thing? Bricks?" Justin asked as he huffed. He struggled to carry the backpack.

The older man looked over Lee, Vince, Justin, and Clementine and he smiled. "I see you brought some guests."

"Your boy's a lifesaver." Vince said. "He saved our lives today."

"You should give yourself some credit, Vince. I don't think we would have made it out of there without your help." Shawn said.

The older man nodded and he approached the group of men. "Vince, is it? I'm Herschel Greene. You have my thanks for keeping my son safe… but… I don't want you carrying around something like that while on my farm." He was gesturing to the shotgun.

"Of course. I understand." Vince said. He offered the shotgun to Herschel who nodded in response.

"Thank you." Herschel said. He looked over to Lee and Justin. His smile fell when he noticed Lee's leg. "Looks like you banged your leg up pretty bad." Herschel said.

"Yeah… it's not looking too good." Lee said.

"Come on over to the porch and I'll see what I can do." Herschel said. He looked to Shawn and he said, "Go check in with your sisters."

Shawn nodded and he went inside the house with Herschel following behind. Lee huffed and grunted as he made his way to the seat on the porch. "You going to be okay?" Vince asked.

"Yeah…" Lee said. He finally reached the top of the steps and he made his way over to the bench. He sat down and huffed. "Man…" He didn't even realize that he had woken up Clementine. The toddler didn't cry to indicate that she was awake.

"Hey Lee… she's up." Justin said.

Lee's eyes widened and he looked down to the toddler with a smile. "Well that was a quick nap." Lee said with a smile.

"I cold." Clementine said with a whimper.

"It's okay… I got a blankie in your bag." Lee said.

Justin nodded and he started to look through her bag. The baby shivered as he did so. Lee hugged her to warm her up, but she was still cold. "Okay. Found it." Justin said. He tossed it over to Lee. Lee grabbed the blanket and wrapped the two year old in it.

"There we go. You feel nice and warm now?" Lee said. He had her cradled in his arms much like a baby. Clementine smiled and nodded her head.

"Get me a bottle for her." Lee said. "I'm going to try and put her back to sleep."

"Okay… shouldn't they have milk in them?" Justin asked as he pulled out a bottle and gave it to Lee.

Lee shook his head and he said, "The refrigerator wasn't running. It was probably spoiled."

"Yeah… I guess you got a point." Justin said.

"Thanks." Lee said. He started to give Clementine the bottle. Several minutes passed by as she continued to drink from the bottle. Her eyes started to close.

Herschel came back out with some bandages and he went to Lee. He knelt down to examine Lee's leg. "Hmm… yeah this is swollen to hell." Herschel said. Lee pulled out the bottle from Clementine's mouth. She was asleep in his arms.

"Could be worse…" Lee said. His voice was quiet enough to where he wouldn't wake the baby in his arms.

"An optimist, huh? I like that." Herschel said as he wrapped Lee's leg with the bandages. "How'd this happen?" Herschel asked.

"I was in a car accident." Lee said. "We were on our way out of Atlanta."

"The news said stay." Herschel said.

"Yeah, well that's a mistake." Lee said.

"Who were you with?" Herschel asked. "The baby?"

Lee was caught off guard when he heard Herschel ask this. Lee hadn't even realized that he screwed up. He had to be honest. If he wasn't, Herschel may take Clementine from him. "I was with a police officer." Lee said.

Justin and Vince were surprised, but Herschel didn't seem to shocked. "Awful nice of him to give you a ride."

"Well… I'm a pretty nice guy." Lee said.

Vince and Justin seemed to have calmed down, but not by much. They still seemed shocked to hear that Lee was with a police officer.

"Well… should be better in the morning." Herschel said as finished dressing the wound. "If not, we may have a serious infection." He stood back up and looked to Lee.

"What will we do then?" Lee asked.

"We'll probably have to shoot you." Herschel said. Lee's eyes widened in horror. He didn't think an infection would call for serious actions like that.

"Whoa, hold on. It can't be that bad." Vince said. There was fear in his voice as well.

"Relax… I'm just teasing. We'll clean it and stitch it for you in the morning." Herschel said.

"Okay… that would be preferable." Lee said. Vince walked over and helped Lee to his feet. As Lee stood up, he noticed that the pain in his leg wasn't as throbbing as earlier.

"You'll have to sleep in the barn. The house is full of my own." Herschel said.

"That's fine… Thanks Herschel." Vince said.

"See you in the morning." Herschel said. He turned and went inside the house. Vince walked off the porch with Lee following close behind.

"So… a police officer gave you a ride?" Justin asked.

Lee remained silent. He was afraid that if he answered honestly that Justin and Vince would see him as a threat and take the baby away. However, they had proven so far to be good allies to Lee.

"It's been a long day, Justin. Let's just get some rest." Vince said.

"I suppose you're right." Justin said. They walked into the barn and went to lay down on some of the sleeping bags.

Vince and Justin seemed motionless which indicated that they were probably asleep. Lee adjusted his grip on the toddler and he looked down to her. She was sound asleep. Lee smiled before he laid back as well. He was glad that he had found her.

"Hey get up." A voice was heard. There was a twang in his voice. Lee yawned as he sat upright. He looked to Clementine who was still in his arms. She seemed to be wanting to get out of the blanket.

Lee unwrapped her from the blanket and placed her on his lap. "Sleep good?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded her head, but she seemed distracted with something. It could have been sleepiness. The redneck chuckled and he said, "She's a cute little thing. I'm sure she keeps you up at nights."

"She hasn't done so yet." Lee said. He grunted as he got to his feet. His leg felt a lot better from yesterday. It wasn't as irritated. As he stood up, he held the baby. "I'm Lee."

"Kenny." The man replied. He turned to Justin and Vince.

"I'm Vince." Vince said.

"I'm Justin." Justin said.

"Dad!" A young boy's voice was heard. He ran into the barn and he said, "Dad! They're going to build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" He then bolted away.

Kenny chuckled and he said, "We better get going or we'll never hear the end of it."

Lee chuckled before he looked over to Clementine. He found it strange that she was so quiet and reserved. Clementine looked to Lee and she said, "I wet…"

Lee frowned and he said, "It's okay hon. I'll change you." It did explain why she wasn't as happy and cheery as she was yesterday. He looked up to Kenny and he said, "I'll join you in a bit."

"Alright… By the way, my wife's going to want to look at that baby you have… You know how mothers can be." Kenny said.

"I understand." Lee said with a chuckle.

"We'll see you in a bit, Lee." Justin said as he gave him the backpack.

"See ya." Lee said with a nod. Lee waited for them to walk out of the barn before he put the backpack down. Once they were gone, Lee placed the changing mat on the ground and then the baby. Clementine whimpered a little as he did so. "It's okay honey. We're going to get you cleaned up right now." Lee said as he pulled her shorts down and started changing her. It didn't take long to finish and for him to pick her back up. "There we go… All clean." Lee said as he bobbed her in his arms.

The baby giggled a bit. She seemed to be happier and more perky than when she woke up. Lee placed the changing mat back into the bag along with the wrapped diaper. He would have to dispose of it in the house.

Lee walked out of the barn and saw Vince, Justin, and Kenny talking to a plump woman and the young boy from earlier. Lee smiled and he walked over to the group.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: If you're wondering, yes Vince and Justin from the 400 Days DLC. Will other 400 Days characters show up? Maybe… You'll have to continue reading to find out. Also, as the reader, you are to assume that Vince and Justin raided a couple houses to find clothes. I just know I'm going to get a review asking me about that.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey… sorry that I didn't mention this sooner, but there will be no OCs in this fic. Instead, there's going to be a lot of OOCs… aka characters that normally would not show up or get much development.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee joined the group with Clementine on his hip. The overweight woman immediately noticed Clementine and she smiled. "Aww… look at her. She's so cute." The woman said. "Can I hold her?"

Lee turned to Clementine and he asked, "Will you be okay if this nice lady holds you?"

"I not mind. You stay?" Clementine said.

"I'll stay." Lee said. He handed the toddler over to the woman who smiled at the baby.

"Well… we all know what those things can do out there, so the faster we get that fence built up, the better." Shawn said as he joined the group.

"I want to build a fence." The young boy said with enthusiasm in his voice.

"Yeah? Well… I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me when I take a water break." Shawn said.

"On the tractor? Cool!" The boy said.

"Duck and I will hop to it." Shawn said.

"You need any help?" Vince asked.

"Uh yeah… You can help me saw a couple of two-by-fours to length." Shawn said.

"Okay." Vince said. He followed Shawn and the boy, Duck, to the backyard.

Without saying a word, Kenny went over to his truck and started to work on it. Justin looked to Lee and he said, "We need to talk."

"Okay…" Lee said. He looked to Clementine and he said, "I'll be back, sweet pea. You just stay with um… sorry I didn't get your name."

"I'm Katjaa." The woman said with a smile.

"Can you stay with Katjaa?" Lee asked.

Clementine looked back and forth between Katjaa and Lee. She seemed torn on whether to stay with the woman but she finally nodded her head in agreement. "That a girl. I'll be right back." Lee said with a smile. He turned to Justin and nodded his head.

Justin took it as his cue to led Lee away from the rest of the group. They stopped near some of the corn and he looked over to make sure that no one was heading their way. He then turned to Lee. "Okay Lee… Why were you in a police officer's car. I'm a little worried especially when you have a baby with you."

Lee sighed. He knew this talk was coming. He looked to Justin and he said, "I got into a fight with this man… He and my wife… had an affair…"

Justin's eyes widened and he said, "Oh shit…"

"Yeah… I just lost it… killed them… I killed them both… A lot of things led up to it… and…" Lee said.

"It's okay, man… You don't have to tell me anymore." Justin said.

Lee quirked an eyebrow and he asked, "You're okay that I killed two people?"

"The whole thing was circumstantial." Justin said. "Hell… I'd probably done the same… Besides… it's not my place to judge…" Justin looked around before he looked back to Lee. "Look, you're not alone. Vince and I were going to the prison before those things started eating people… There was another guy with us… his name was Danny…"

"Yeah… I could kind of tell with the shotgun that you were carrying yesterday." Lee said.

"Yeah… I did a huge Ponzi scheme. I mean… it was very complicating which was why I didn't get caught immediately." Justin said.

"You still got caught though?" Lee said.

Justin scoffed and he said, "Yeah… I still got caught…"

Lee nodded and he said, "How about Vince?"

"I don't know. He just said that he got arrested for helping his brother…" Justin said.

"Huh… that's strange." Lee said.

"Yeah… look I don't know the whole story with Vince, but I trust him. He had to make a choice between me and that Danny guy… and I'm glad he chose me…. Not because I got to live, but because… well, Danny was accused of and probably did rape some fifteen year old girl… I have no idea what the f*** would have happened if he was still alive… and we ran into you." Justin explained.

Lee felt a shiver down his spine. "Yeah… I think he chose right." Lee said.

"I know he did." Justin said. "Anyway… you know our secret… and well… I know yours. How about we keep it that way."

Lee nodded and he said, "I'd lose Clem if my secret got out."

"Won't happen. Vince and I will make sure it doesn't happen." Justin said.

Lee nodded and he said, "Thanks Justin."

"No problem." Justin said. "I'm going to go talk to that Kenny guy."

Lee nodded and he said, "I'll be with Katjaa."

Justin nodded and he walked away to talk to Kenny. Lee went back over to Katjaa and Clementine.

Clementine smiled upon seeing Lee but it was followed by a frown. "I hungy." Clementine said.

Lee smiled and he started to tickle the girl's belly. "Your tummy has the rumblies?" Lee said.

Clementine giggled in response as she squirmed in Katjaa's grip. Lee ceased in tickling her and started to look through her bag for something to eat. Katjaa, meanwhile, tried to entertain the toddler.

"What does the cow say?" Katjaa asked.

"Moo." Clementine replied.

"What does the kitty cat say?" Katjaa asked.

"Meow." Clementine said.

"What does the doggie say?" Katjaa asked.

"Woof." Clementine said.

"Good job, Clementine. You know your animals really well." Katjaa said. Lee finally found some animal cracker. He also pulled out a sippy cup with juice in it.

"Here we go." Lee said as he opened up the box of animal crackers and gave one to Clementine. The toddler smiled and she started munching on the animal cracker while also drinking from her sippy cup.

"You're very good with her." Katjaa said.

"Thanks." Lee said. He smiled at the toddler who continued to eat her animal crackers. After a couple minutes, Lee looked back up to Katjaa and he said, "So… won't mind if I ask how you're holding up? I can't imagine what you and your family have been through."

Katjaa sighed and she said, "I appreciate your concern… Kenny just drove… It was horrifying… We passed so many families before we found Herschel's. It was just…"

"It's okay… You don't have to say anything else." Lee said. He could tell that Katjaa was starting to get upset.

Katjaa nodded in response and she said, "So sad how it all fell apart. Everything is gone now…"

"Yeah… hopefully we can rebuild some time down the line." Lee said.

"I guess you do have a point… Still it won't be easy." Katjaa said.

"I done." Clementine said as she finished. She had managed to eat plenty of animal crackers. She squirmed in Katjaa's lap. "I walk."

"Okay, sweetie." Katjaa said as she placed the girl on the ground.

Lee got up and followed the girl. He wanted to make sure that she stayed in sight. They walked around the farm with Clementine enjoying the sights and sounds. She looked over to the fence and she asked, "They fix?" She pointed a finger to the fence.

"Well… kind of. They're trying to make it stronger to keep the monsters out." Lee explained to the toddler.

"Oh… that good." Clementine said.

"Yeah it is." Lee said.

However, both were interrupted when Shawn screamed. The scream frightened Clementine and she started to whimper. Lee looked over to see that the tractor somehow had moved forward and rolled over Shawn's leg.

"M-M-Monsters!" Clementine exclaimed as a couple walkers limped over and tried to reach Shawn. She started crying again.

Lee had no choice but to comfort the baby. As much as he wanted to run over and help Shawn, he had to think of the baby first. Lee picked up the crying toddler and bobbed her in his arms. "Sh… it's okay baby girl. I got you." Lee said.

Lee's eyes widened when he saw another walker grab Duck. The little boy screamed for help. However, Lee was still not able to do anything. If he put the toddler down, she would be crushed. Plus, there was no way that he was going to put her in danger, even to save a couple of boys.

Someone rushed past Lee in a flash. It was Vince.

"Stay with her, Lee! We'll handle this!" Justin said as he also ran past him.

Lee breathed a sigh of relief. He was thankful that Vince and Justin were around.

Vince got on the tractor and pulled Duck away from the walkers with Justin's help. Kenny came running over from the other side of the house and went to the little boy. He took him from Vince. No doubt that the little boy was scared.

"Vince, Justin, Kenny, I need help!" Shawn exclaimed. Vince and Justin ran over to get the tractor off of him somehow, but it was no good. The vehicle was too heavy. They only needed one more person to help lift the tractor.

Lee saw them look over to Kenny, but the man started to backpedal. "No…" Lee muttered. Clementine's cries had calmed down to whimpers, but Lee still couldn't just put her down. Lee's eyes widened when he saw Kenny bolt from the scene.

"Kenny!" Shawn exclaimed.

"Dammit… Come on!" Vince exclaimed as he tried to bring the tractor up high enough for Shawn to slip away, but it didn't work.

"Shit!" Justin exclaimed as he jumped back. There a loud crash. The fence must have shattered under the walker's weight. A loud scream confirmed Lee's suspicion. Clementine started to cry again, but Lee comforted her. Lee didn't know if he did the right thing.

He saw Herschel run out with a shotgun. He fired a couple of shots before he looked up and killed the last walker. With the whole situation over, Lee walked to the scene. He placed a comforting hand on the back of the toddler's head. He didn't want her to see what was going on. Lee cringed when he saw Shawn's body. His neck had been ripped open and he was bleeding from his leg. He was dead.

Kenny and his family also walked over. After several minutes, Herschel stood up and he said, "Get out…" He turned with a glare aimed at the group. "GET THE F*** OUT OF HERE!"

Clementine jumped and started to whimper again. Lee shushed her and bobbed her in his arms. All of this crying was going to make her tired.

"I'm sorry…" Kenny said.

"Sorry? You son is alive. YOU DON'T GET TO BE SORRY!" Herschel snapped. He turned his glare to Lee and he said, "And you! You didn't even try to save him."

"He had a baby in his arms. The hell was he supposed to do?" Vince snapped.

"Yeah, Lee did the right thing. He kept the baby safe. That's what's important." Justin said as he glared at Herschel.

Herschel returned the glare and he said, "Just… leave." He turned back to his dead son and he said, "Get out and never come back!"

Kenny walked up to Justin and he said, "You got that ride to Macon if you want it." He turned around and started to walk away along with his family.

"Ride to Macon?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… that's where Kenny and his family are going." Justin said. "I asked him if he could give us a lift."

Vince's eyes widened and he looked down. "What's wrong?" Justin asked.

Vince remained silent for a couple seconds before he replied, "I… um… my family is in Macon…"

"Same here…" Lee said.

"It's different for me…" Vince said.

"Well we don't have a choice. We got a baby with us. We won't last long on the road." Lee said.

"Especially when we don't have a weapon." Justin said.

"Actually… I'm armed." Lee said.

"What?" Justin asked with wide eyes. Vince was also surprised to hear this.

Lee nodded his head. "I picked up a handgun from her house." Lee said as he gestured to the toddler in his arms. He turned to Herschel and back to Vince and Justin. "We better get a move on." Lee said. He could tell that Clementine felt more like deadweight in his arms. She must have fallen asleep from crying.

"Yeah…" Vince said. "I'll go get your bag for her… I'll make sure everything is packed up."

"Thanks." Lee said with a nod.

Vince nodded back before he walked away to retrieve the backpack. Meanwhile, Lee and Justin walked over to get in Kenny's truck.

"Alright… there's not enough room for all of us… You think you and Vince can ride in the truck bed?" Kenny asked Justin.

"Yeah, we won't mind." Justin said.

"Here we go." Vince said as he brought the backpack over.

"Thanks Vince." Lee said.

"No problem. I guess our next stop is Macon." Vince said. He sounded almost defeated. It seemed that he didn't want to go back to Macon.

"It's the best chance we got in finding help." Kenny said. He turned and went into the truck.

"It's going to be fine, man… We're going to figure this out." Justin said.

"Yeah…" Vince said. He walked over and climbed into the truck bed. Justin walked over to join him while Lee carried the backpack and sleeping toddler over to the truck. Once inside, the truck started off down the road.

Lee felt conflicted in going to Macon as well. The last time he saw his family… it wasn't a good day. His mother was hysterical with his father trying to comfort her. Then there was his brother. He remembered that Bud was sad to see him go. Regardless, it was the safest route at the moment. It was too dangerous to go out there with a baby and no vehicle, and Herschel didn't want him to stay any longer. This was the only choice he had.

* * *

It was late afternoon as the vehicle drove further down the road. Duck was back to his normal self, and he was playing with Clementine. "I spy sometin yellow." Clementine said with a smile. She was enjoying herself as she played with the much older boy. Lee had to keep her on his lap. He knew that she liked to cuddle, but he still wished that he had a car seat for her. It was dangerous to leave her unfastened in the vehicle. He just had to hope that Kenny didn't get in a wreck.

Duck pondered and he looked around. "Yellow? Yellow?" The boy muttered. His eyes widened and he said, "Mom's shirt!"

Clementine smiled and nodded her head. "It pretty."

Katjaa smiled and she said, "Thank you Clementine."

"Okay! My turn!" Duck said. "I spy-" He paused when the vehicle started to sputter.

"Ken? Everything alright?" Lee asked.

The vehicle continued to sputter as Kenny sighed. "Good news is that we're in Macon… Bad news is that we're out of gas." Kenny said.

"What do we do?" Lee asked as the vehicle sputtered to a stop.

"Not much we can do. This is as far as she's taking us." Kenny said.

"Then I guess it's far enough." Lee said. He unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car with Clementine.

"I walk." Clementine said while Lee got back in to retrieve the backpack.

"Okay… but you need to hold my hand." Lee said. He placed the backpack on the ground and dug out a pacifier. He knew that Clementine would freak out when she saw walkers. "Here's your friend." Lee said as he placed the pacifier in her mouth. Clementine smiled under the pacifier. She looked adorable. Lee smiled back as he placed her on the ground and placed the backpack on. He extended his hand out and took her smaller hand.

"Car out of gas?" Justin asked as he and Vince climbed out of the back of the truck.

"Yeah…" Kenny said. He started to look around. "Does anyone other than me hear that?"

They remained silent as a loud buzzing sound could be heard. It sounded like an alarm bell. "Wait a minute…" Lee said. He went to the source of the buzzing with Clementine following along.

"Lee wait up." Vince said as he ran over to catch up. Justin, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck followed behind them.

Lee made his way around the debris and cars that blocked the roadway. His eyes widened when he saw the pharmacy. His suspicions were confirmed. The pharmacy that his parents owned and that his brother worked at was overran. There were walkers all over it. "No…" Lee said.

Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, and Justin caught up to Lee and looked to the pharmacy. "Everything alright?" Kenny asked.

"…That was my folk's store." Lee said.

"There isn't anything we can do now." Vince said. "I'm sorry… but we should take advantage of this opportunity. I bet every one of those things is gathered at that pharmacy. This is our chance to cut across town safely."

"Exactly. We need to get back on the road." Kenny said.

"No." Vince said. "We need to find a place to lie low and resupply. There's a motel on the outskirts of Macon. We shouldn't have to deal with walkers and we'll be close enough to do runs."

"And we'll have beds." Justin said.

Kenny was conflicted for a couple of seconds, but he sighed. "Alright… but it's not a permanent solution." Kenny said.

Vince nodded and he led the way to the motel. The group followed with Lee looking around and making sure that there were no walkers nearby as they followed Vince out of the city. He couldn't take his mind off the pharmacy. He just hoped that his parents and brother were somehow okay.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Well that's different. Anyway… Telltale… You did the pharmacy part of Episode One perfectly. There's no way FanFic writers can make it any better.**

 **Also, I'm not bashing on Danny. Quite frankly, I like Justin and Danny equally. It's just for this story Justin would be a safer option.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The group approached the supposed motor inn that Vince talked about. Navigating through Macon wasn't too bad for the group. They didn't have any encounters with the walkers yet. They must have all been at the pharmacy.

"I guess those things are attracted to noise." Justin said. "Haven't seen one in a while."

"Let's keep it that way." Vince said. They walked closer to the motor inn but Vince stopped them. "Shit…" Vince muttered.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked.

Before Vince could reply, a woman ran out of the motor inn. She was wielding a hunting rifle. "Who are you?" The woman inquired.

Vince held his hands up and he said, "Calm down… We're not here to-"

"Who the f*** are you? I will not ask again." The woman said and she aimed at Vince.

"I'm Vince." Vince replied. "We're just looking for somewhere to settle down… Please… we have a child and a baby with us."

The woman looked over the group with a glare in her features. Lee felt tense. He shielded the baby girl by putting her behind him. He just had to hope that the woman wouldn't do anything drastic.

"Lilly?" A voice was heard. Lee's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. He knew that voice. A young man ran up to join the woman. "What's going on?" He looked to the group and he paused. "Lee…" The man said.

"Bud!" Lee exclaimed. He ran over to Bud as the man ran over at the same time. The two men met in the middle and hugged. "My gosh… you're alright." Lee said.

The two separated from each other. "Yeah…" Bud said. His smile dropped into a frown and he said, "I'm sorry, Lee. Mom and Dad didn't make it. I did everything I could."

"It's alright, Bud… That's more than what I did." Lee said.

"Hey… That's in the past. You're family… No matter what happens, we look out for each other." Bud said.

Lee nodded and he said, "Thanks Bud."

"Who the f*** are they?" An older man snapped.

Lee looked over to see a group of people at the motor inn. There was a young woman with a dress shirt, black skirt, black tights, and high heels, a young man with a baseball hat on, an older man who appeared to be rather angry, and the woman from earlier who had a gun aimed at Vince.

"Bud, who are they?" Lilly inquired.

"It's alright… This is my brother, Lee. He worked at the UGA." Bud said.

"Worked?" Lilly asked with a questioning glare.

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure the walkers have left us all unemployed." Bud said.

"He's got a point…" The man with the baseball hat said.

The older man glared at Lee and he said, "I don't think we can trust him."

"Yeah? Well too bad. He's my brother. If he leaves, I leave." Bud said.

A moment passed by until Lilly said, "Alright… I mean they can't be that bad if they have a kid and a baby with them."

Lee jumped. He forgot that he had just left Clementine behind. He looked over to the toddler and was surprised at how content she was. She just kept looking at her surroundings. He walked back over to the toddler and picked her up. "Sorry baby… I got a little excited." Lee said.

"It otay." Clementine said from underneath the pacifier. Lee could make out what she said despite the pacifier muffling her sentence.

Lee turned and was face to face with Bud. "Where'd you find that precious little girl?" Bud asked.

"Found her up in a treehouse." Lee said. Lee turned her around and held her by using his hip. "Can you say hi? This is my brother, Bud."

Clementine smiled underneath the pacifier and she said, "Hi."

Bud chuckled and he said, "She's adorable, Lee." He looked around and he said, "Come on… We need to get inside the motor inn where it's safe."

"Good idea." Lee said.

Bud nodded and he looked to the rest of the group. "Follow me inside." They obliged, but the older man from earlier greeted them all with a glare.

It wasn't long until they were inside. Lee placed Clementine on the ground. He decided to let her keep the pacifier since it did keep her calm and they were meeting new people

Lee stood upright and he looked to Bud. "So what happened?" Lee asked.

"It's a long story…" Bud said. "In short, mom and dad are gone, we lost this guy named Doug, and we lost the pharmacy when I went back there to get some meds for Larry… aka grumpy old man."

Clementine giggled a bit when she heard what Bud called the older man.

Bud smiled at her before he looked to Lee with a frown. "Lee… Larry knows about you. He knows that you were convicted for double homicide. You're going to have to be careful around him." Bud said.

Lee's eyes widened. "Thanks Bud… I'll try to watch myself while being around him." Lee said.

"No prob…" Bud said. He looked over Lee's shoulder and he sighed. Lee looked over to see the pizza delivery car run out of the motor inn. Lee looked around and noticed that the man with the baseball hat was missing. "Well… there goes Glenn. He said that he had to go help his friends… I just thought he was going to stay for the rest of the day."

"So what do we do now?" Lee asked.

"Your friends and I will block the entrance with cars if you can keep the baby entertained." Bud said.

"It's been easy so far." Lee said as he sent a smile to the toddler. Bud nodded and he walked over to Vince, Justin, and Kenny.

"I want play." Clementine said.

"Yeah? What do you want to play?" Lee asked.

"Color!" Clementine said in a cheery voice.

"Okay." Lee said. He took her over so that they would be out of the way of the adults. He grabbed a couple of coloring books a packet of crayons that he had gotten from her home.

Duck ran over and joined them in coloring. Katjaa watched him while Lee kept an eye on Clementine. He also participated in coloring with her.

An hour had passed for the group members. Lee was still keeping an eye on Clementine; however, he did glance up to see how Bud, Vince, Justin, and Kenny were doing.

"Lee, I can keep an eye on her if you want to go over and help Vince, Justin, Kenny, and Bud." Katjaa said.

"Are you sure?" Lee asked. Katjaa nodded in response.

Lee looked to Clementine and he said, "Will you be okay if Katjaa keeps an eye on you?"

Clementine nodded in response and she said. "I otay."

"Thank you honey. You be a good girl for Katjaa." Lee said. He leaned over and kissed the girl on the top of the head. Clementine giggled a bit from that.

Lee got up and he walked over to help Vince and the others. "Whew… time for a water break. I was meant to sit behind a desk… not this." Justin said.

"Best to get used to it. This is all we got nowadays." Kenny said.

Justin scoffed and he said, "Don't remind me."

"Hey…" Lee said. "I can help you guys out."

"What about the little princess?" Bud asked.

"Katjaa's keeping an eye on her." Lee said. "She'll be okay for now."

"Alright… we still got to move one more car." Vince said.

"On it." Lee said. They walked over to the last car and started pushing it. They had to position the vehicle so that the walkers wouldn't be able to get inside the motor inn. Several minutes went by until they had maneuvered the vehicle in place.

Kenny groaned and he said, "I think that'll do it."

"Yeah… That'll work for now." Vince said.

"Good… because I smell the sweet aroma of food." Bud said. He climbed over on the other side of the vehicle and started to make his way over to the group. Lee chuckle; however, his smile fell when he didn't see Clementine with Katjaa or Duck.

He ran over to the two and he said, "Where's Clem?"

Katjaa smirked and she said, "I don't know. I think she's hiding from you." Her voice had a teasing tone in it.

Lee relaxed when he heard that the toddler was just playing hide and seek with him. He chuckled and he said, "Can you give a clue on where she is?"

"You'll know when you start hearing her giggle." Katjaa said.

"Good point." Lee said. He decided to check the RV that was in the middle of the parking lot first. After all, it was the best lead in finding her. It was close by and away from the edge of the parking lot. He went inside the RV and he called out in a teasing tone of voice. "Oh Clementine. Come out, come out wherever you are." He heard giggling and went toward it. This was going to be easier than he thought. Still, he decided to check around in the drawers so the toddler could be more entertained by the little game. After checking cabinets and drawers, Lee hummed. "Well, I just can't find that little girl."

Clementine's giggles were getting even louder and more out of control. Lee smirked and he went over to where the girl was hiding. "Aha!" Lee said as he moved a couple pillows out of the way. "Found you."

Clementine giggled and she said, "You find me!"

Lee smiled and he picked up the girl. He cradled her in his arm and started to tickle her. Clementine laughed and squealed as she thrashed in his grip. Lee couldn't help but notice how cute she was. He tickled her so much that she was starting to drool. Lee took that as his signal to stop and he placed his hand underneath her. The toddler huffed with a smile on her face. She looked up to Lee and she said, "I love you. You fun and nice."

"I love you too. You always make me smile." Lee said as he kissed the top of her forehead.

The toddler continued to smile at him, but it suddenly changed into a frown. "What's wrong, baby?" Lee asked.

"Mommy an daddy?" The toddler said. "When they come?"

"It might be a while, sweetheart. It's not too good out there." Lee said.

"But I want em." Clementine said. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"I know. They'll find us eventually." Lee said. Clementine started to whimper. She didn't want to wait anymore. She wanted her parents now. Lee adjusted his hold on her so he could comfort her. The toddler's whimpers turned into cries. Lee did his best to comfort her.

The woman that accompanied Bud, Lilly, and Larry came in with a worried look on her face. "What's going on? Is she alright?" The woman asked.

"She misses her p-a-r-e-n-t-s." Lee said.

"Oh… where are they?" The woman asked.

"Savannah." Lee said as he continued to comfort the sobbing child.

"Ouch… that's a long drive from here… Hopefully, they're holding up alright." The woman said. "My name's Carley…"

"Hi Carley. I'm Lee." Lee said.

Carley looked Lee over with a suspicious look on her face while Lee continued to comfort Clementine. She was starting to finally calm down.

"You seem like an okay guy." Carley said.

"Huh?" Lee asked.

"Lee… I know what happened. I was a reporter for WABE of Atlanta. I covered your case." Carley said.

Lee's eyes widened and he said, "So you know?"

"Yeah… Look… I've covered a lot of stories and I know the media goes out of its way to make people like you sound like complete monsters… when normally the opposite is true…" Carley said. "Look… your brother helped me out of a tough spot and saved my life at that pharmacy. I'll keep your secret for now, but the minute you become a problem… well… let's just hope it doesn't happen."

Lee nodded and he said, "Thank you, Carley. I appreciate it."

Carley nodded and she said, "Don't mention it." She didn't seem as serious and stern when she said that. She turned and walked out of the RV.

Lee pulled Clementine back but he still held her. "You okay?" He asked in a tender voice.

Clementine nodded her head in response.

"Sometimes, you just need to cry to feel better." Lee said. He noticed that she was sniffling. "Hang on… I think you got some buggies." Lee said. He cradled her with one arm as he used his other arm to get a tissue from his pocket. He got the small packet of tissues out and started to wipe her nose. He squeezed down on one of her nostrils and he said, "Okay, blow through your nose." Lee said.

Clementine did as Lee asked. He wiped up the snot and did the same on the other side. "Okay one more time." Lee said. Clementine blew through her nose and Lee cleaned it up. "There we go. Feel better?"

Clementine looked up to him with a smile and she nodded her head.

"Hey Lee. Time to eat." Bud said as he went into the RV.

"Okay. Thanks Bud." Lee said as he sat Clementine on his lap.

"So, is the little princess hungry?" Bud asked as he walked over to Clementine.

Clementine was confused at first and she looked around. "I mean you… um… I didn't really get her name." Bud said.

"It's Clementine." Lee said.

"Clementine… that's a beautiful name. Fits you really well." Bud said.

"Thanks…" Clementine said.

"My gosh… She's well-mannered too." Bud said.

"Yeah… she's a very good girl." Lee said. Clementine smiled at all the praise that the two brothers were giving her.

"So is this good little girl hungry?" Bud asked as he started to tickle her belly. Clementine giggled and squirmed around as he did so. "I think someone's ticklish."

"I not ticklish." Clementine said.

"Sure you're not." Bud said. He got up from tickling the toddler and he said, "We're about to eat."

"Okay. Thanks Bud." Lee said. He got up from the seat and carried Clementine on his hip. The two men walked out of the RV and went over to the fire pit where everyone else was. It appeared that they were eating chicken noodle soup with crackers.

"Oh you're going to love this." Lee said to the toddler. "You like chicken noddle soup?"

Clementine nodded her head in response. Lee set her down on the chair and he said, "I'll be right back. I'm going to go get your bib and sippy cup."

"Otay." Clementine said.

Lee smiled to the girl before he turned and walked over to the backpack where her things were. Lee looked around her backpack as he heard a set of footsteps approaching him. He knew that it couldn't have been Clementine. The footsteps were too loud.

He looked up in time to receive a punch in the face. He groaned as he fell to the ground. He was dragged to his feet and was staring face-to-face with the older man. "Let me make this clear to you, shit-bag. You stay away from that little girl and my daughter." He followed it with a punch which sent Lee to the ground.

"Hey!" Bud exclaimed and he ran over along with some of the other group members.

"He got what was coming to him." Larry snapped.

Lee groaned as Bud helped him up. "You alright?" Bud asked.

"Yeah… I think so." Lee said.

"The f*** was that all about, you crazy old coot?" Kenny snapped.

"Shut it, redneck." Larry snapped. "I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Dad, calm down." Lilly said.

"Consider that a message. If he goes anywhere near that little girl or my daughter… I'll make sure it's the last thing he ever does." Larry said.

"You will NOT threaten my older brother, and you will not do that ever again; otherwise, you're on your own." Bud said with a glare.

"No… please… my dad and I need a group." Lilly said.

"Then your dad will need to calm down. He attacks my brother again, and I'll send him on his way." Bud said.

"You and what army?" Larry inquired.

"The one right next to you." Vince said.

"Same here." Kenny said with a glare.

"I don't have any qualms kicking an old asshole out of here." Justin said.

Larry grumbled upon seeing that he was outnumbered. He looked to Lee with a glare and he said, "You better watch yourself." He turned and stomped away toward one of the rooms. The door was heard slamming shut which made everyone shutter.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: *Sigh* Yeah… Larry's an asshole. I'm hoping we don't have to put up with him for too long…**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lilly sighed and she said, "I'm sorry… He can be a bit overprotective at times."

"Well, he needs to cool it; otherwise, he's out of here." Bud said.

"Bud, come on… that's not fair… He's just trying to protect me." Lilly said.

"Well that's fine, but he can't beat up my brother." Bud said. "I won't tolerate that."

Lilly shook her head and she said, "I'll try to talk to him…"

"Good… well… let's go back to enjoying dinner…" Bud said.

"Damn straight." Kenny said.

The group walked back over and received a worried glance from Katjaa. "Don't worry, hon… We resolved it." Kenny said to his wife.

Lee crouched down and placed the bib on Clementine. "You otay?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… I'm fine honey." Lee said.

"You got boo-boos." Clementine said.

"Yeah… but don't worry. I'm fine. Let's get some food in you." Lee said. He got up and got the toddler's food from Bud. "Thanks." Lee said as he accepted the bowl.

He stirred the soup around with the plastic spoon before he brought a spoonful up. He blew on it to cool it down before offering it to the toddler. "I feed myself." Clementine said.

"Normally, I would let you, but the soup's too hot, and we don't have a high chair for you yet." Lee said. "Can you let me feed you?"

Clementine nodded her head with a smile. Lee had a feeling that the toddler enjoyed being babied. It made sense since she still had a couple of bottles in the house, and she didn't mind being cradled in someone's arms. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it.

Lee continued to blow on the soup and offered it to the toddler to eat for a few more minutes. Everyone else was eating soup, but Lee didn't mind. He enjoyed taking care of Clementine. He had wanted this for so long. He was brought up with the mentality that family was important, and now, he had a beautiful baby girl to look after.

"I done." Clementine said with a smile.

"Your tummy's full?" Lee asked. Clementine nodded her head in response.

"Come on Clementine. You should let Lee eat." Katjaa said as she walked over to the toddler. "We'll do a little more coloring before it's bed time."

"Otay." Clementine said with a smile. Lee picked up the small girl and helped her to the ground. He knew that she would struggle to get out of the chair. After all, she was a small two year old. She scampered off with Katjaa while Lee grabbed a bowl of the soup.

He kept to himself as he ate. He noticed that the group members were claiming rooms of their own for the night. Lee would have to make sure that he got a room for himself and Clementine. He finished his soup and got up to find a room.

"Hey Lee…" Bud said. Lee looked over to see him approaching. "What are you doing?"

"I noticed that everyone was claiming rooms. I wanted to make sure that I got a room for Clementine and myself." Lee said.

"Won't be necessary. I already got a room for you and Clem. You'll be sleeping in the room next to me." Bud said. "You'll be in room twenty-four."

"Oh… okay… Thanks Bud." Lee said.

"No problem." Bud said. "We'll have Carley take over for the night in doing watch."

"Sounds good. I better get back over there with Clementine." Lee said.

"Good idea." Bud said. "I think tomorrow we need to get some supplies for her. You know, a high chair, car seat, and some other baby supplies."

"Yeah that would be a good idea. I'll see if Katjaa can keep an eye on her tomorrow." Lee said.

"Okay… get back to me on that idea." Bud said.

Lee nodded before he went over to Katjaa. Clementine was back to coloring with Duck. However, their fun would soon be interrupted. The sun was starting to sink lower into the sky. It was almost night time. Lee grabbed the backpack that had all of Clementine's supplies first. He then went up to Katjaa and he said, "Hey… I'm going to go on a run with Bud tomorrow. We're going to get some baby supplies for Clem. Can you watch her? I think she would be more comfortable if you watched her than if anyone else watched her."

"Yeah. I won't mind. Besides, I miss this age." Katjaa said. "It certainly has its set of challenges but it's still nice."

"Thanks." Lee said. He looked over to the toddler in his care and he went over to her. He sat down next to her and he said, "That's a pretty drawing." Lee said.

"Thanks." Clementine said. She sat upright and smiled at her guardian.

Lee returned the smile and he said, "I'm going on a run tomorrow with Bud. Can you be a big girl and stay with Katjaa while I'm doing that?"

Clementine frowned and shook her head. "No… you stay." Clementine said.

"I can't baby. I have to get some supplies for you." Lee said in a comforting tone of voice.

"But monsters?" Clementine said.

"We'll be fine. Those monsters won't get either of us." Lee said.

"No…" Clementine said. She didn't want him to leave. Lee could understand since she was still a baby, but he needed to go out there and help the group some way even if she didn't like it.

"We'll be back. Who knows we might find some candy while we're out there." Lee said.

Clementine perked up. "Candy?" Clementine said with a smile.

"Yup." Lee said. "I can pick you up some candy tomorrow if you let me go on the run."

Clementine pondered to herself until she finally said, "Otay."

"Yeah, get some candy for me too!" Duck said.

Lee chuckled and he said, "Alright."

"Well… the sun's almost down…" Lee said. "I think it's time to go to bed."

"Yeah… We have a big day tomorrow." Katjaa said. "Come on Ducky."

"Okay…" Duck muttered. It was obvious that the boy didn't want to go to bed.

Lee got up and helped Clementine to her feet. Lee looked over and saw the number twenty-four on a door. Bud did mention that he and Clementine were in that room. Lee crouched down and he said, "Do you know what the numbers two and four look like?" Lee asked. Clementine nodded her head. "Good you see the door that has them together? I'll race you to that door."

Clementine smirked and she said, "Dat?" She pointed to the door that Lee was talking about.

Lee smiled and nodded his head. "Otay." Clementine said.

"Okay… on your mark, get set… go." Lee said.

He saw the toddler run as fast as she could toward the door. Lee stood up and went over to catch up to her. Clementine laughed and squealed as she got closer to the door. Lee was going to let her win, but he was going to make it close so that she would feel happier about her win. She reached the door first and she said, "I win!"

"Yeah. Good job, Clem. You're pretty fast." Lee said.

Clementine smiled and she said, "Thanks." It was followed by a yawn.

"You ready to go to bed?" Lee asked.

Mm hm…" Clementine said with a nod.

Lee opened the door and he walked inside the room. He flipped the light switch, but nothing happened. "Hmm… well that's going to make it difficult." Lee said. He looked around until he noticed a flashlight on the nightstand. Lee walked over to the flashlight and turned it on. "Okay… that'll work." Lee said.

He took off the backpack and started to rummage through it. He did get some pajamas for Clementine while he was at her home. He was just too busy last night to put her in the pajamas. He eventually pulled out a nightgown which would act as her summer pajamas. He placed it on the bed. He also grabbed a bottle that had water in it, a pacifier, her unicorn plush toy, a diaper, some wipes, and the changing mat. Lee looked to the supplies and he said, "I think that's all we need." Lee said. He zipped up the backpack and placed it nearby. He then gestured Clementine to come over.

The toddler had a tired look on her face as she walked over. Lee unfolded the changing mat and placed her on top of it. He took off her socks, shoes, and clothing then changed her. Afterwards, he put her pajamas on. "You're tired aren't you?" Lee said. He wasn't too surprised. She did have her nap a little too early today. He picked her up and cradled her in his arms. He placed the unicorn push toy in her arms before he grabbed the bottle.

Lee would have to sit on the bed rather than a rocking chair to get her to sleep. The bottle should do its job in helping her to get to sleep. Clementine drank from the bottle as she did her best to fight off sleep, but it didn't take long for her to drift off to sleep.

Lee smiled as he took the bottle out. He set it on the ground and placed the pacifier in her mouth. She was out. It didn't take long for Lee to join her. He was just as tired. He loved looking after her, but it was exhausting at times.

* * *

Lee started to open his eyes. The room was brighter than what it was when he went to sleep. It was morning. The first thing that he noticed was a foul smell. He sat upright and looked to Clementine who was still laying on the bed. Her eyes were open, but like yesterday morning, she wasn't fully awake. The pacifier was still in her mouth as she sent a small smile to Lee to greet him good morning.

"Morning Clem." Lee said. He walked around the bed that he and the toddler had slept in last night and he asked, "Did you poop?"

The toddler nodded her head in response. She said something underneath her pacifier which Lee couldn't understand. Lee took the pacifier out and she said, "Change."

"Okay… let's take care of that." Lee said as he placed the pacifier back in her mouth. He grabbed the changing mat from her bag along with a diaper and some wipes. He placed the toddler on top of the changing mat and started changing her. "Did you sleep well?" Lee asked.

The toddler nodded her head in response. "That's good." Lee said. He finished changing her and pulled out a dress for her to wear for the day.

Clementine smiled underneath the pacifier and she said something. Once again, the pacifier muffled anything that she said. Lee smiled and he took the pacifier out. "It pretty!" Clementine cheered.

"You like dresses?" Lee asked.

Clementine smiled and nodded her head.

"I guess you're a girly-girl." Lee said with a chuckle. This time, he put the pacifier away for later use.

"Yup." Clementine said.

"Okay, arms up." Lee said. Clementine put her arms up high and Lee slipped her into the dress. As he finished putting the sundress on her, he tickled her. Clementine giggled and laughed as Lee continued to tickle her. She laid on the bed and rolled around in trying to get away from being tickled.

Lee smiled as he picked her up. "You awake?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded her head in response. Lee grabbed the toddler's supplies and went outside to join the group. It seemed that they were eating eggs and bacon. The aroma made it apparent. He walked over and repeated the same process as yesterday without Larry beating him up. He could still feel the older man's glare being aimed at him.

Lee allowed Clementine to feed herself this time since the food wasn't scolding hot like yesterday and she was less likely to cause a mess.

For her part, Clementine did an amazing job of keeping herself clean. She must have had to learn while she was up in the treehouse.

Lee ate his breakfast while also making sure that Clementine was doing alright. "So what's on today's to-do list?" Kenny asked.

"Well… it would be a good idea if we started to make a wall around this place. It'll make the motor inn more secure." Vince said.

"We also need supplies like medicine, food, water, weapons, and tools." Justin said.

Vince nodded and he said, "Alright… how about you and I go to the hardware store to get tools." Justin nodded in response.

"Carley and I can get food, water, and medicine from the pharmacy." Kenny said.

"Sounds good. Lee and I will go to Macon and pick up some baby supplies for Clementine. We'll fill up your truck and bring it back here while we're at it." Bud said. "Lilly, you can be in charge until I come back."

"She should be in charge all the time, not you." Larry hissed.

"Uh no. When she was leading, Doug, Glenn, and Carley didn't get a say on what happened. It was pretty much your show." Bud said with a frown.

"Yeah, well at least she kept them alive and together… That's more than what you did." Larry snapped.

"How about we have a vote." Lee said. "Anyone want Bud as leader will raise their hands. Anyone who wants Lilly as leader will keep their hands down."

"I can agree with that." Vince said.

"Yeah sounds good to me." Kenny said.

"Alright… let's vote then." Justin said.

Lee, Clementine, Kenny, Duck, Katjaa, Bud, Vince, Justin, and Carley raised their hands. Lilly and Larry were the only ones who didn't raise their hands. "I think it's clear that Bud should stay as leader and Lilly can take over when he's absent." Lee said as he lowered his hand. Everyone else followed suit.

"Who do you think you are? Calling shots like that?" Larry inquired.

"Decision's been made, Larry. You don't like it? You can always leave." Lee said.

"F*** you." Larry hissed. He grumbled to himself and he got up. He threw away his empty plate and stomped away from the group.

"Was dat bad word?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… don't say that word. It's a very mean and bad word." Lee said.

"I won't." Clementine said.

"I should go talk to him." Lilly said. She got up and went over to her dad.

"Shame on him." Katjaa said with an angry expression on her face. "He should never swear in front of the baby."

"I know, hon." Kenny said.

"That guy is going to be a problem." Vince said.

"Look… I don't like him either… but I can't just throw him out unless he does something drastic." Bud said.

"He certainly isn't a team player…" Justin said.

"I'll have to keep an eye on him." Bud said as he finished his breakfast. Lee looked back over to Clementine as he finished his breakfast. She was a bit messy, but it was alright. Scrambled eggs weren't that hard to clean up. "Alright Lee. I'm ready whenever you are." Bud said.

Lee nodded his head and he said, "Let's do it."

He got up from his chair and he walked over to Clementine. He crouched down to her eye level and he said, "Hey baby. I'm getting ready to head out." He noticed that she had eaten the eggs on her plate. He didn't think that she would like bacon. She was too young to enjoy it.

"You be back?" Clementine asked with a frown.

"Of course. Be good for Katjaa." Lee said.

Clementine nodded and she leaned in to hug Lee. Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck. Lee smiled. He picked up the little girl and returned the hug. "I love you." Clementine said.

Lee's smile grew. "I love you, too." He walked over to Katjaa and patted the girl on the back. "Okay honey… I gotta go." Lee said.

"Otay…" Clementine said. She released her grip and Lee handed the baby to Katjaa.

Katjaa smiled to Lee before she looked to Clementine. "So Clem… how about you show me how you color."

"Otay." Clementine said with a smile. She climbed down from Katjaa's lap and ran over to where her crayons and coloring books were.

Lee smiled as he watched her scamper off. She was a wonderful little girl, but he could tell that the world was starting to affect her. She seemed a little too patient for her age. He looked to Bud and he said, "I'm ready to go."

"Alright… Let's head on out." Bud said. "Here… you'll need this." Bud said as he handed Lee a fireman's axe.

"Thanks…" Lee said. Bud nodded and he led the way out of the motor inn. He and Lee had to jump over a car to get out of the motor inn. They looked down the road toward Macon. Both were reluctant to return to their hometown, but they needed supplies for Clementine. So, they walked down the road.

… **To be continued.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee and Bud entered Macon. Both were on high alert and looking around for walkers. They didn't hear the distant buzzing sound of the pharmacy alarm which meant that the walkers were no longer distracted by the noise. It would mean that Kenny and Carley can do their job, but it also meant that everyone had to be cautious while doing a run in Macon. The two brothers carried a melee weapon, a gallon of gasoline for the truck, and handguns which were in their holsters. They knew that the handguns were for last resort only.

Lee gripped his axe tighter while Bud looked around for any signs of walkers.

"Okay… what do we need?" Bud whispered. "Do we need baby food?"

"No, I don't think. I think she's outgrown that. We need a highchair, a crib, and a car seat. Probably wouldn't hurt to get her a couple more pacifiers, sippy cups, a package of diapers, a package of baby wipes, and some baby books." Lee whispered. He continued to look around.

"Okay… How are we going to get a crib?" Bud said.

"The truck. We'll run toward it, fill it up, and get the crib on there." Lee explained.

"Okay… What about a changing table?" Bud asked. "Does she need one of those?"

"We won't have enough room for it. Besides, I've been doing fine with the changing mat. I'm more worried that I'll toss and turn in my sleep and squish her." Lee said.

"I see… that's why we need the crib." Bud said. "Alright… We should be fine. I know Macon like the back of my hand."

"Same here." Lee said with a smirk. "It's been a while… but not much has changed."

"Yeah… kind of sad to see what's happened. Used to be a really good place to live." Bud said. They walked further down the road in silence. They had no idea if there were going to be any walkers that would jump up and surprise them.

They noticed that the middle of the town was blocked off by several walkers. Bud looked around until he noticed an alleyway. "This way…" He whispered and he went down the alley. Lee remembered this alley as a kid. He used to cut across it as a kid to get to a friend's house faster. Bud stopped in his tracks when he saw a couple of walkers at the exit of the alleyway. "Dammit…" Bud muttered as one of the walkers staggered towards him. The other walker took notice and got to its feet. Bud put the gallon of gasoline down and waited for the walker to get closer.

Lee readied himself with his axe. He would take out the other walker.

Bud huffed as the walker got closer. In one quick move, he stabbed the walker in the head. The undead creature fell to the ground with a thud.

Lee turned back to the other walker and hacked it in the head with his axe. The walker became limp and fell to the ground. Lee dug out his axe and both men continued down the alley. Bud looked around until he gave the signal to go. Now that they had went around the center of town by using the alleyway, it would be easier to get to the truck.

* * *

Once they reached the truck, they fueled it up with gasoline and went to the local baby store. Lee drove down the road. Of course, he would have to go the long way to avoid wrecked cars, scattered debris, and walkers.

"So Bud… how'd you become leader of that group? You seem to be the youngest aside from that Glenn guy who took off." Lee said.

"Yeah… well as you saw, Larry's an asshole, Lilly's too strict and stern, and the rest of them weren't too keen on becoming leader… So… I stepped up." Bud said.

"Well you're doing pretty well so far." Lee said.

"Thanks." Bud said. "You know… mom and dad… they didn't resent you… not even at the end."

"Yeah… I wish I could have made it up somehow…" Lee said.

"You are. Mom and dad would be proud that you saved a baby and are now taking care of her." Bud said. "You just have to keep doing right by her until her parents find us… if they're even alive."

Lee nodded and he said, "Thanks Bud… I don't think her parents made it. I got three messages on the answering machine in her house… and well… it didn't sound too good."

"Damn…" Bud muttered. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the baby store. There weren't too many walkers out in the parking lot, but they would still have their hands full.

Lee parked the truck and turned it off. "Ready?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… don't use your handgun unless you have no other choice. Noise attracts these things." Bud said.

"Got it." Lee said.

The two brothers climbed out of the truck and ran over to the walkers that blocked their way. Together they managed to kill the walkers in the parking lot and a couple of walkers inside.

"Alright…" Lee huffed. It had been a long half hour of killing walkers. "Let's grab what we need and get out of here."

"Agreed." Bud said. Lee went ahead and grabbed a car seat while also grabbing a couple more pacifiers and a couple more sippy cups. He went outside and placed them in the truck. He was thankful that the store's alarm didn't work anymore since it required electricity. Bud was out there already with some baby books in his hands. Next, he grabbed a package of diapers and a package of wipes while Bud got the highchair out to the truck. The last thing that they needed to grab was the crib. The crib proved to be a challenge. Once they got it outside, they had to place it in the back of the truck, then they had to keep it from rolling all over the place as they drove home. They tied it down with some rope.

"Okay… I think we got it." Lee said.

"Yeah… let's get back to the motor inn." Bud said. The two brothers climbed into the truck and Lee drove off down the road. It didn't take long to get back to the motor inn while being in the truck. Lee noticed that a couple of the vehicles were replace with dumpsters. It acted as a gate. The dumpsters moved back and Lee drove the vehicle into the motor inn.

He parked the vehicle and got out. He noticed that Katjaa was walking up to him. "Hey, how'd everything go?" Lee asked. He was wondering why Duck and Clementine weren't with her.

Katjaa nodded her head and she said, "Stressful."

Lee frowned. "She couldn't have been that bad…" Lee said.

"Oh she wasn't." Katjaa said. "She did have a temper tantrum, but that's normal for her age and she was very close to naptime. Ducky got upset because I wasn't paying attention to him like I normally did and from there it spiraled out of control. So he's in timeout right now…"

"I'm sorry Katjaa. We might have to split up the duties from now on." Lee said.

"It's no problem, Lee. Today was just a first. We all have rough first days." Katjaa said.

"Well... thanks for looking after her. I appreciate it." Lee said.

"Certainly. I'm glad that I had her." Katjaa said.

"Hey Lee. Help me with this stuff." Bud said.

"Got it." Lee said. He walked over to the truck bed and helped Bud to get the baby supplies inside the room that he and Clementine shared. By the time Lee and Bud finished moving everything, Clementine was starting to wake up from the bed that she was in.

"Someone's up." Bud said.

"Yup." Lee said. He went over and picked up the toddler. She yawned as he picked her up. Lee held her and he asked, "Did you have a nice nap?"

Clementine nodded in response. She was still a bit tired, but Lee knew that she would soon be scurrying about.

Lee chuckled and he walked outside with her. He sat down on a chair and placed her on his lap. He decided that a game would help wake her up. "Okay Clem. Where's your nose?"

Clementine smiled and she said, "Here." She touched her small nose.

"Very good. Where's your eyes?" Lee asked.

"Here." Clementine said as she pointed to one of her eyes.

"Good job. Where's your mouth?" Lee said.

"Here." Clementine said as she pointed to her mouth.

"Very good. Where's your hair." Lee asked.

"Here." Clementine said as she gestured to her curly, dark brown hair.

"Good job." Lee said. "You're too smart."

Clementine smiled in response. "Which reminds me." Lee said. He went through his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. Clementine smiled as he unwrapped it. In less than a second, she snagged it from him. Lee chuckled as he patted her back and let her enjoy the chocolate bar. She deserved it. She had been a very good girl for him.

Once she had some chocolate in her, she was off. She ran around the motor inn on a sugar rush as Lee kept an eye on her.

Bud chuckled and he said, "Well… no more chocolate for her."

"She earned it. She's been a very good girl." Lee said.

"Yeah… she's a sweet kid." Bud said.

Clementine ran over and she placed her hands on Lee's good knee. "Tag! You it!" She exclaimed before she scampered off away from Lee.

Lee chuckled and he said, "Well I better go ware her out."

"Good luck." Bud said.

Lee looked over to see Clementine smiling and huffing. She squealed and ran off when she saw Lee coming towards her. Lee smirked and he ran to catch up with her. Clementine continued to laugh as she did her best to get away from Lee, but it didn't take him long to catch up to her.

Lee smirked and he said, "Come here… I'm going to get you." He pretended to reach out and try to get her. Clementine laughed and squealed more as she tried to avoid capture.

Lee finally picked her up and tickled her with his beard. Clementine laughed and squealed in his grip until he stopped. Lee looked to the girl with a smile as she huffed and cuddled into him. He had her cradled in his arms. Lee carried her over to the play area and allowed her to color for a little while. She seemed very content for the rest of the day.

 **Night Time**

Lee and Clementine walked into the room. It had been a long day for the group, but it was productive. Kenny and Carley got food, water, medical supplies and candles from the pharmacy. There was a candle set up in each room so there was a source of light at night time. Plus, Vince and Justin came back with tools and equipment. The group would have to make a run at some point to get guns and ammo. This run would probably take them to the nearby airforce base.

"Did you have fun today?" Lee asked.

Clementine looked up and smiled at him before she nodded her head. "It fun." Clementine said.

"You tired?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded her head. She certainly looked tired. Lee walked over and grabbed similar supplies that he had gathered for her last night. He took off her dress, changed her diaper, and placed her nightgown on. He then got up and cradled her in his arms. He went over to the bed and placed the bottle in her mouth. She would eventually outgrow the bottle and have him read bedtime stories from the stack of books that he and Bud got from the baby store, but as for now, the bottle put her to sleep rather easily.

Soon, the bottle was empty, but the toddler's eyes were barely open. She wasn't asleep yet. Lee placed the bottle on the ground and placed the pacifier in her mouth. It only took a couple more minutes for her eyes to close and for her to be in a deep sleep.

Lee smiled as went over to the crib and laid her down on the bed. He tucked her in and smiled. She was adorable. He turned and blew out the candle before he went to bed himself.

* * *

Several days passed until Bud called everyone together aside from Duck and Clementine. Katjaa stayed behind to keep an eye on them.

"Okay… we need to have a serious discussion about our firepower. We don't have many guns with us, and our ammo is running low. We need to take what we got left and go on a run to get more." Bud said.

"So what do you suggest?" Vince asked.

"Well… Lilly, Kenny, Lee, and I can go to Warner Robins. We'll see if there's a way in and get the supplies." Bud said. "That'll leave you in charge, Vince."

Vince nodded his head and he said, "Okay… stay safe."

"Will do." Bud said. "I'll need a few minutes to gather up the weapons we got. Then we'll be heading out."

"Alright… how about you show me where this place is." Kenny said to Lilly.

"Yeah…" Lilly said. They walked over to the truck while Bud went over to retrieve a couple of guns.

Lee, on the other hand, went over to Clementine. He saw that she was scribbling with a crayon. "Hey, sweet pea… Can you be good for Katjaa again? Bud's going to take me out on a run."

Clementine looked up and frowned. "Otay…" She said. She was used to it by now. Lee would have to go out on runs every so often so that he could provide for the group. Still, she never liked it when he left.

"Thank you, honey. I'll be right back." Lee said. He kissed the toddler on the top of the head before he got back up. He looked over to Katjaa to see if she was up to the task of watching her again.

"Don't worry. I've gotten better at watching them at the same time." Katjaa said.

"Thanks Katjaa. I'll be back soon… hopefully." Lee said.

Katjaa nodded in response and Lee walked over to Kenny, Lilly, and Bud. "Hey, you ready to go?" Bud asked.

"Yeah." Lee said.

"Alright… let's hit the road." Kenny said. He and Lilly got in the front seat while Lee and Bud got in the back seat. Kenny started the truck while Vince and Justin pushed the dumpsters away so the truck could pass through.

Kenny drove the truck out of the motor inn and down the road. They were off to Warner Robins.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: This one was a tad bit shorter, but oh well. I need to vary it every once in a while.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee, Bud, Kenny, and Lilly stood outside Warner Robins. The place was completely overrun. Walkers gathered around gate where the group was. "That's a lot of them…" Lee said.

"Yeah… either way you look at it, there isn't an easy way to get supplies." Kenny said.

"We have to try. We can't go back with nothing." Lilly said.

"Yeah… but how about we actually come back. We go in there… we'll die." Bud said.

"Bud's got a point. We don't have enough firepower and forget about killing these things up close." Lee said.

They tensed up when they heard a car approaching. They aimed their weapons at an approaching vehicle. The vehicle rolled to a stop and a man came out. He wore a pair of glasses, a black shirt, cargo pants, and boots. "Easy now… I don't want any trouble." The man said.

"Who are you?" Kenny inquired.

"Mark?" Lilly asked as she lowered her rifle.

"Lilly… I thought that was you." Mark said.

"Friend of yours?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… kind of. Mark was a pilot here. In fact, he was probably the only pilot who didn't give me shit." Lilly said. "You can trust him."

The group relaxed and they lowered their weapons.

Mark turned around and he said, "We don't have a lot of time. I barely got out of there and those things are probably still chasing me."

"We need to get inside." Bud said. "There's commissary food and guns inside. We'll need those."

"Already grabbed them." Mark said. "You are in a group, right?" They nodded in response. "Okay, good. Get me back to your group and let me join, then it'll be all yours."

"You got a deal. Thanks." Bud said.

"Trust me… I have no intention of getting eaten." Mark said.

"Okay. I know the way to get back to the motor inn from here." Lilly said.

"Alright. You drive Mark there. We might get separated." Bud said. "If we do, at least he'll be able to get the supplies there."

Lilly nodded and got in the driver's seat of the car. Mark got in the passenger seat while Lee, Kenny, and Bud got in the truck.

"Oh shit…" Kenny muttered as he looked through the rearview mirror. "I see why that Mark fella was in a hurry."

Lee and Bud turned around and saw several walkers limping toward them. Kenny tried to start the engine, but it stalled. "Son of a bitch." Kenny snapped as he kept turning the key in the ignition. Again, the engine didn't start.

"What's going on?" Lilly inquired.

"The engine's stalling. Just go… We'll get out of this." Kenny said.

Lilly nodded before she drove off. Kenny popped the hood and got out of the truck. He opened the hood and he said, "Lee, turn the key when I say so." Kenny said. Lee got out of the back seat and got into the driver's seat.

Meanwhile, Kenny fiddled around with the engine as the herd of walkers limped closer. "Now…" Kenny said. Lee turned the key. It was close to starting up, but it didn't.

Kenny went back to messing with the engine. A couple minutes passed. Lee was wondering if they should make a run for it. "Now." Kenny said.

Lee turned the key. This time the vehicle started. Kenny slammed the hood down and got into the passenger seat. "Go!" Kenny exclaimed.

Lee stomped on the gas pedal and sped off from the approaching herd. "Damn… that was close." Bud said.

"You might have to invest in a new vehicle, Ken. This one's about had it." Lee joked.

"I would, man, but those car salesmen are just corrupt sons of bitches." Kenny joked.

"Damn… I thought I had a bad sense of humor. How could you guys joke about something like that." Bud said.

Lee and Kenny chuckled and Lee said, "Just came with the moment."

"Geez…" Bud said. There was a chuckle in his voice, but he certainly was shaken up by the experience.

* * *

The truck drove into the motor inn and Lee placed the vehicle in park. Mark, Lilly, and Carley were busy getting food and weapons from the car. Kenny and Bud got out to join them, but when Lee got out, he was immediately greeted by Clementine who wrapped her arms around his leg. Lee chuckled as he bent down and picked her up. "Hey baby girl. Did you miss me?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded in response. "I not like when you leave." Clementine said.

"Sorry baby, but I got to help out. Were you a good girl while I was gone?" Lee said.

Clementine nodded in response. "Duck not mean today." Clementine said before she yawned.

"It's about time for your afternoon nap." Lee said.

Clementine nodded in response. Lee carried her over to the room that they shared. He went over and grabbed her pacifier before he went over and grabbed a baby book. He didn't cradle her like he normally did. Instead he let her look at the pictures from the book.

"Alright… let's read this one, then you have to go to sleep." Lee said.

Clementine nodded her head in response. Lee started to read from the baby book. Clementine was taking in everything, but she was slowly starting to fall asleep. After a while, Lee reached the end of the book and closed it. He placed it on the nearby bed and carried the toddler over to the crib. She was still awake, but Lee knew that she would fall asleep in a matter of minutes. He put her in the crib and tucked her in. He then walked outside the door. He left it cracked open so air could move in and out and so he could pick up on her calling for him when she woke up again.

Lee walked over to see that all of the food and supplies were being accounted for. Bud, Lilly, and Carley were taking stock while Mark was walking over to Lee.

"Hey. I wondered where you ran off to." Mark said.

"Yeah… I had to put Clementine down for a nap." Lee said.

"Clementine?" Mark asked. "Is she your daughter or something?"

"Kind of. I'm looking after her until we can find her parents." Lee said.

"Oh… Do you know where they're at?" Mark asked.

"Savannah." Lee said.

"Damn… that's a stretch from here." Mark said.

"Yeah… I don't think they made it. I went through her house and found an answering machine. She was set up in the treehouse. Probably put there by the babysitter before she turned. It didn't sound good." Lee said. "I think the father got bit and turned and her mother was either shot or ripped apart."

Mark's eyes became wide. "Son of a bitch... Well… It's a good thing you're looking after her."

Lee nodded his head in agreement. He knew that he would have his work cut out for him, but he didn't care. He enjoyed looking after the baby.

 **3 Months Later**

The weather had gotten colder. It was mid fall for the group of survivors. They had stayed at the motor inn for three months.

Lee approached a walker from behind and slammed the axe down on its skull. It appeared that the walker was eating something. He pulled the axe out of its skull and looked down to what appeared to be a half-eaten rabbit.

"Great… What'd they get this time?" Mark asked.

"Looks like a rabbit." Lee said.

"Well… that's another meal lost…" Mark muttered and he walked further into the forest. Lee joined alongside him. Both were in search of more food. There was hardly anything left at the motor inn.

"I hardly call a rabbit a meal, Mark, but hell, I'd take it." Lee said.

"I still can't believe we ate all that commissary food in three months. It seemed like so much at the time." Mark said.

"Maybe you shouldn't have opened the door." Lee said.

"Yeah… except then I'd probably be food." Mark said. "Trust me… I have no regrets." They walked a little further in silence until Mark said, "I wonder how much food we got left."

"You'll have to ask Bud." Lee said. "He's the one handling the rations."

"Or mishandling if you ask Kenny." Mark said. "It seems like he's getting more hostile with you and Bud at each passing day."

"Yeah…" Lee muttered. "I know he's worried about his family, but f***… we have to feed the baby."

"I ain't arguing with that. How is she anyway?" Mark asked.

"Doing pretty good. She's happy, but… she keeps asking about her mom and dad. She misses them." Lee said.

"I bet… She's still a baby, so it's normal for her to miss them." Mark said. "Still, you've done a good job so far. She loves you, Lee… Don't forget that."

"Trust me… I don't." Lee said. "She always puts a smile on my face."

"Yeah… I think she puts a smile on everyone's face… except Larry… I'm so sick of him." Mark said.

"I think we all are." Lee said.

"Didn't he beat you up one time?" Mark asked.

"Yeah… Bud had to lay some ground rules for him…" Lee said.

"He and Lilly need to cool it. She's being snippy and claiming that her dad isn't getting enough food. Getting weaker… which is bullshit." Mark said. "The man's all muscle."

"I know. He's just looking after his daughter, but you're right… He needs to calm down." Lee said.

"So… what do you think about that Wyatt guy that Vince and Justin found a couple weeks back." Mark asked.

"He seems alright, but I do think that something happened. He looks really paranoid." Lee said.

"Glad to hear that I'm not the only who thinks that. Dude completely jumped the other day when I tapped his shoulder to get his attention." Mark said.

Mark looked around until he stopped and ran over to the nearby shrubbery. Lee joined him as he aimed his gun at a bird. "Don't. Gunshot'll bring walkers… One bird ain't worth it." Lee said.

Mark sighed and he said, "I guess so… I'm just really hungry…" Mark lowered the gun, but as soon as he did so, a yell was heard. The bird flew off from the yell and both men looked to each other. "Was that Vince or Kenny?" Mark asked.

"I don't know." Lee said. He stood up along with Mark and ran toward the source of the screaming. They passed by several trees as they ran to the source of the screaming. They finally reached an opening and saw a man stuck in a bear trap. There was a teenage boy trying to get him out while another teenage boy held the hand of a frightened little girl. She actually appeared to be Clementine's age. She seemed to be trembling. She was scared. The man jumped and yelled out in pain as the teenage boy tried to free him.

"Holy shit…" Mark muttered.

The two teenage boys turned around and were surprised to see the two men. "Oh shit. No… we're just trying to get our teacher out. After that we'll leave. I swear." The teenage boy that was working on the trap said.

"Mark, you guys okay?" Kenny asked as he ran into the clearing.

Soon, Vince and Justin ran into the clearing as well. "What's going on here?" Vince asked.

"Travis… maybe they can help." Ben said.

"These might be the same guys that raided our camp and we barely got away from that." The boy, Travis said.

"What guys? Why is there a bear trap out here?" Kenny said. The toddler that was with the boys started to cry in response.

"Shit… Calm her down. Those things can probably hear her!" Travis said.

"I don't know how!" The other boy exclaimed.

"Calm down and give her here. I'll calm her down." Vince said.

He went over to the toddler as she continued to wail. "Hey…" Vince said as he picked her up and started to bob her in his arms. Her wails started to become whimpers as Vince held her close.

"Please… help me…" The man that was stuck in the bear trap said.

Mark walked over to the bear trap and started to examine it as the man groaned in pain. "Lee, this trap's been altered. There's no release latch." Mark said.

"Oh no…" Travis muttered. The group looked over to him and followed his line of vision. He was staring at the other end of the clearing. There were several walkers limping toward the group.

"Shit… Walkers… it's now or never, Lee." Kenny exclaimed.

"Please… get me out of this thing." The man pleaded.

"Mark, keep the boys back. Vince, you got the baby. Kenny, keep those walkers off of me." Lee said. He looked to the trap and placed the axe in between the jaws of the trap. He tried to pry it open, but it didn't work. Instead it made the man howl in pain. Lee huffed and he looked to the chain next. "Mark… can we cut through that?" Lee asked as he stood upright and gestured to the chain.

"No way. We used chains like that to lift heavy machinery. You're not cutting through that." Mark said.

Justin sighed before he walked up. "I might have an idea… His leg…"

The two men looked to him with horror in their eyes. "It's either that or he dies. Those walkers are getting too close." Justin said.

Lee sighed and he said, "You're right…"

"No wait! Try the trap again! Please!" The man exclaimed. However, Lee didn't listen. He brought the axe up and brought it down on the man's leg. He screamed out in pain as Lee's axe made contact. The toddler in Vince's arms started to cry again as Vince did his best to comfort her. Lee brought his axe down again and again on the man's leg. The man yelled out in pain at every swing until Lee finally cut his leg off. The man looked down at his recent stump and gasped in horror. He then lost consciousness.

The gunfire ceased and the group looked over him. The boy, Travis, gagged at the sight and he staggered off. "Is he…?" Mark said with horror in his eyes.

"He passed out…" Lee said.

"Well… if he's alive, grab him and let's go." Kenny said.

Mark squatted down and hoisted up the man. The rest of the group followed but Lee noticed that the boy, Travis, was in danger.

"Behind you!" Lee exclaimed.

The other boy looked back and he exclaimed, "Travis!"

"Come on. We gotta go!" Lee said as he tried to drag the other boy away. He heard Travis panicking and screaming. "No!" The teenage boy exclaimed.

Lee dragged the teenager away as his friend was mauled by the walkers. There wasn't anything they could do for the boy at this point. They just had to get back to the motor inn. Part of Lee wondered if Bud would be angry over what he did.

… **To be continued.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee took the lead as the group got closer to the motor inn. He reached the outside gate and he yelled, "Get the gates open. We got wounded."

Bud jumped down from the RV upon seeing it was his brother. It wasn't long until the gates opened and there was a loud commotion from inside the motor inn. All of the commotion made the toddler in Vince's care cry again. She must not have been used to all of the yelling. Lee entered the motor inn and was immediately greeted by Clementine. The toddler now wore a cream colored dress, black tights, and black flats. She had a pacifier in her mouth and had her hands up in a gesture for him to hold her. Lee obliged and he bobbed the girl in his arms.

"What's going on here?" Carley exclaimed amongst the panic.

"Who the hell are these people?" Larry snapped.

"Everyone else okay?" Bud asked as he looked around the group members that went out. "What happened out there?"

"Lee… LEE?" Lilly snapped. All of the commotion stopped except for the baby's cries. It was the baby in Vince's arms. "What the hell? You can't just be bringing new people here. What were you thinking?"

"Hey… that's my call to make. He made the right choice!" Bud argued.

"Right choice? He brought more mouths to feed!" Larry snapped.

"They would have died if we left them." Lee said.

"So what?" Larry spat.

"So… they had a baby with them." Vince said as he continued to comfort the toddler in his arms.

"We are not responsible for every struggling survivor out there. We need to focus on our group… right here, right now…" Lilly snapped.

"Now, hold on. We don't even know about these people yet. Maybe they can be helpful." Carley said.

"Come on Lilly. These are people. People trying to survive just like us. We have to stick together in order to survive" Mark said.

"The only reason you're here is because you had food… enough for all of us…" Lilly said. "But now… all that food is apparently gone…" She sent a glare toward Bud.

"Okay… and what about me? You guys let me in." Wyatt said.

"Trust me… I regret that decision every day." Lilly spat.

Bud sighed and he said, "We got a week's worth left of it."

"Which means we can't be wasting it." Lilly said.

"I'm not kicking these people out. One's injured, one's a kid, and the other is a baby." Bud said.

"You won't have to. I'll kick them out for you." Larry said.

"No. They stay… and that's final." Bud said.

"Hey Lee." Vince said. He made a gesture with his head to go away from the group as they argued. Lee nodded. It was probably a good idea especially when he saw that Clementine was covering her ears. She hated arguing and yelling.

Lee walked away with Vince joining him. "Hey… I might be looking after this little one for a while." Vince said as he gestured to the toddler in his arms. "Won't mind if I could borrow some of Clementine's supplies?"

Lee smiled and he said, "I don't mind at all. They're probably the same age."

"Yeah…" Vince said. "I need to get her into something warmer." Vince said.

"Sounds good. I packed spares in everything." Lee said.

"Thanks." Vince said. He went over to Lee's room as Lee placed Clementine on the ground and had her follow him to the play area. The arguing was intensifying, but Lee didn't care. He decided to let Clementine play for a little while. The toddler sat on the ground with the pacifier still in her mouth as she colored with her crayons.

Lee looked over when he noticed that the arguing had started to die down. He saw that Bud was shaking his head and appeared to be angry and stressed. Lee felt bad for him, but it wasn't like he could do anything. He had a baby to look after.

Lee noticed that Duck and the teenage boy were coming back over. However, he also overheard another set of footsteps. He looked over to see Vince carrying the toddler from earlier. She looked more comfortable and was wearing a green long sleeve shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of white shoes. She also had a pacifier in her mouth. "Hope you didn't mind that I borrowed a pacifier for her." Vince said.

"Vince, you helped me a lot. Of course, I don't mind. So did we get a name from her?" Lee asked.

"Danielle." Vince said as he sent a smile to the toddler. "Can you play with Clem? She's the same age as you."

The toddler shook her head and cuddled up to him. "Okay…" Vince said with a chuckle in his voice. He sat down and placed Danielle in his lap.

"She looks a lot better." The teenage boy said.

"Yeah… I bet she feels better." Vince said. "She's probably not as cold or as wet as she was. That's probably why she was so fussy."

"I wouldn't know. We found her last night. Mr. Parker, my teacher, tried to take care of her." The teenager said.

"Hmm… okay… well, she definitely doesn't talk much… I think she's traumatized from being separated from her parents." Vince said. "I barely got a name from her."

The toddler in Vince's arms just watched Clementine while staying on Vince's lap. "You sure you don't want to play with her? I bet you'll have a lot of fun." Vince said. He was drawing on his own experiences when he had to watch Clementine, but the little girl shook her head again. "I think someone might be tired." Vince said.

Lee looked over to Clementine upon hearing a yawn. "I don't think she's the only one." Lee said as Clementine picked up the pacifier that fell from her mouth. "It's probably time for a n-a-p."

"You actually spell out words?" The teenager asked.

"Have to… otherwise she fights it." Lee said with a smirk. He got up and picked up Clementine.

"Me play…" Clementine whined with the pacifier in her mouth.

"No way… You're tired." Lee said. "Did you already get food today?" Clementine nodded in response as she did her best to fight off sleep. Another yawn escaped her lips and Lee caught the pacifier. He placed it in her mouth and sat down with her. He cradled her in his arms as Vince did the same with the girl that he had. However, it seemed like she was shifting in her sleep. She might have been uncomfortable. Vince adjusted his hold on the toddler which was the key. She wasn't fidgeting around as much. If anything, she was getting more comfortable.

It wasn't long until both toddlers were asleep. Lee got himself up first and went to the room. Vince followed close behind.

"Are we just going to put them in the same crib?" Vince whispered.

"We'll have to." Lee whispered. "You put Danielle in first. She's probably harder to put to sleep."

Vince nodded in response. The two men entered the room. Vince laid Danielle down first and then Lee placed Clementine down in the crib. Lee tucked them in before he and Vince went to the door. "They're adorable." Vince said as they walked away from the door.

"Yeah… Maybe you could be a guardian to Danielle until we can figure out what happened to her." Lee said.

Vince smirked and he said, "I wouldn't mind doing that."

"Shit Katjaa!" Bud exclaimed. Lee and Vince looked over to see Katjaa in the grip of a walker while Bud tried to separate them. Lee went back to the room and grabbed his axe. He then ran back over to where his brother was.

Lee couldn't believe his eyes. It was the teacher that was the walker; he somehow turned. Bud slammed the walker against the sides of the truck to disorient it, but the creature was still putting up a good fight.

"Bud, push it back!" Lee exclaimed as he arrived at the truck. Bud struggled for a couple seconds until he was able to kick the creature off of him. It growled as it slammed into the glass window. Lee brought the axe back and slammed it into the skull of the walker. Lee released his grip on the axe and the body of the walker fell onto the truck bed. "Dammit…" Lee muttered. He looked up to Bud and he asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah… thanks…" Bud said. He climbed out of the truck while the rest of the group ran over.

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place asshole?" Larry inquired.

"Dad, calm down." Lilly said.

"You're going to get us all killed." Larry snapped before he stomped away. Lilly looked to Lee and Bud before she chased after him.

"Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?" Kenny inquired. The two brothers looked over to see Kenny glaring at the teenager.

"What?" The teenager exclaimed.

"He was bitten, and you didn't say a damn word!" Kenny snapped.

"He wasn't bitten. I swear!" The teenager said.

"Well your non-bitten friend here came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" Kenny snapped.

"What?" The teenager exclaimed

"Hold on… You guys don't know?" Vince asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny inquired.

"Wait I thought you guys knew…" Justin said. "It doesn't matter if you're bitten or not, you come back regardless."

"Wait… how do you know that?" Mark asked.

"Because… we've seen it happened… We were on a bus when all of this started. Some lunatic strangled someone… and well the strangle victim came back to life." Vince said.

Kenny glared at Vince and he said, "When were you going to tell us about this shit?"

"We thought you knew." Justin said. "That was our bad…. We won't assume anymore."

"Is there anything else we need to know?" Kenny snapped.

"No… there's nothing else." Justin said as he looked away from Kenny's glare.

"Back off!" Carley was heard. The group turned their heads toward the woman. She had her gun aimed at two men who were outside of the motor inn.

"Whoa lady. Relax… me and my brother here were just looking for gasoline." One of the men said.

"I said back off!" Carley exclaimed.

"Carley, easy." Bud said as he made her lower the weapon. "We don't want any trouble." Bud said to the two brothers.

"Of course… neither do we." The man said. "I'm Andrew St John. This here is my brother, Dan. It looks like y'all got the motor inn locked down… which is fine, but if you could spare us some gas… we'd be much obliged."

"Why do you need gas for?" Lilly asked.

"Our place is protected by an electric fence… Generators provide the electricity." The other man, Dan, said.

"Our generators run on gas…" Andrew said. "Listen, we come from a dairy farm. If you'd all be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade."

"How are you doing on food? We got plenty at the dairy." Dan said.

Everyone in the group jumped at that. They were running out of food, so the trade seemed like a good idea.

"Hmm… okay… Mark and I are going to head on over and check this place out. We got to see if it's legit." Bud said.

"I'll come with you." Wyatt said. "I still have to repay you guys for taking me in."

"Me too. I got your back if things seem fishy." Carley said.

"So what are y'all thinking?" Andrew asked.

"You got a deal. We'll bring some gas to your dairy and in exchange you give us some food to take back… We'll see how it goes from there." Bud said.

"Sounds fair. A couple of gallons ought to power our generators for a while." Andrew said.

"Lilly, you're in charge while we're gone… and don't kick that boy out…" Bud said.

"I won't make any promises." Lilly muttered.

Bud sighed and he said, "Hey kid… You're coming with us."

"Oh… uh okay." The teenage boy said. "By the way, my name's Ben."

"Alright. Nice to meet you Ben." Bud said.

"What about the baby?" Ben asked.

"She's staying. I'm going to look after her until we can figure out where her parents are." Vince said.

"You sure you're up for it?" Justin asked. "Looking after someone that young isn't easy. Just ask Lee."

"I've babysat for Clem a couple of times. I can handle it." Vince said.

"He's right." Lee said.

"Okay… I'm going to go gather a couple of gallons for the trip." Wyatt said.

"Sounds good." Bud said. "We'll be waiting by the gate when you're ready."

Katjaa walked up to Vince and she asked, "How is that little girl? I'll need to check her over to make sure she's okay."

"She's clearly traumatized. It must be from being separated from her folks." Vince said. "Other than that, she seems relatively okay. There were no scars or scratches when I changed her."

Katjaa nodded in response. "I'll take a look at her when she wakes up. For now, I'm going to go clean up." Katjaa said. She turned and went to the room that she shared with her family.

"Hey… Can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Justin said.

"Sure… what's up?" Lee asked.

"In private…" Justin said.

Without another word, the three men walked away from the group. They went near the play area where the kids were usually at. Justin sighed and he said, "You know I've been doing supply runs with Wy up to recent, right?"

"Yeah… we know that." Lee said.

"Well… we found this map… Pointed towards somewhere in Missouri..." Justin said.

"What are you getting at?" Vince asked.

"There has to be a settlement up there… Why else would someone circle it and make a path toward it?" Justin said.

"Justin, we're in no condition to go check that place out. Larry's got a heart problem and now we have two babies with us. I just don't think it's going to happen." Vince said.

"Yeah… I know... That's why I think I should leave the group and go see it for myself." Justin said.

"Alone? And after everything we've been through? I spared your ass! I had a choice between you and Danny, and I chose to sacrifice him!" Vince exclaimed and he pushed Justin.

Justin staggered back but regained his balance. "I'm not going to be gone permanently. I'm going to check that place out, and if it's good, I'll come back down and get you guys."

"Justin… we may not even be here. We're out of food, our supplies are slowly dwindling, and who knows what will happen between now and then. And what if this place is a dud, then what?" Lee said.

"And that's if you make it up there." Vince said. "You've gotten stronger, but people out there are ruthless. They'll pick you off easily."

"I'll take my chances. Bottom line, we need to do this. Don't you want to give those girls a life that doesn't include killing walkers?" Justin asked. "I'm trying to think of the group…"

"No… you just want to find some place, so you don't have to do so much work." Vince said. "If you leave here, don't come back."

Justin glared at Vince and he said, "Fine… I get it… But if I do find this place, I am coming back here for the kids…" Justin turned and stomped away.

"Well… that's not good…" Lee said.

"No, it's not…" Vince said.

"Alright, we'll be back in a bit." Bud said to the group as a whole. He turned and headed out of the motor inn with Wyatt, Carley, Mark, and Ben following along.

"Then… there's those two brothers…" Vince said. "I don't know why, but I just can't shake the feeling that there's something not right about them. It might just be my paranoia talking or something."

"I don't know." Lee said. "I have to admit that there was something off about them." Lee said.

Vince shook his head and he said, "I don't think either of us should go if the deal turns out alright. We should stay here and keep the motor inn safe while they're gone. We'll stay here and look after Clementine and Danielle."

"I agree. This just doesn't look right. They seemed almost too friendly." Lee said.

"Exactly…" Vince said. He walked away to work on another project while Lee went over to the couch to read his book. It was an autobiography of Ulysses S Grant. He would read it in between Clementine's naps.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Well… I decided to add baby Danielle to the fic. Now don't panic. Vince is actually right. Danielle is traumatized from being separated from her mother. In this version, she was never raped.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm a bit busy with school work right now, so I won't be updating as much.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The gate to the motor inn opened. Carley, Wyatt, and Ben had returned from the St. Johns. "So, what's it like over there? Is it as safe as they claim it is?" Lilly asked. Carley was carrying a basket of biscuits with her. Everyone could tell that it was biscuits by the sweet aroma.

"Yeah. It's actually pretty nice over there." Carley said. "It's like it's been untouched." She handed the basket to Lilly.

"Is it safe?" Lilly asked.

"As far as we can tell… yeah." Wyatt said.

"Okay, we'll head on over there." Lilly said.

"Wyatt, Ben, and I can keep an eye on the motor inn while you're gone." Carley said.

"We can?" Ben asked.

"I mean Wyatt and I can keep an eye on the motor inn." Carley said.

"That sounds more accurate." Wyatt said. Ben crossed his arms over his chest and frowned in response.

"Okay… thanks… everyone else… get ready for the trip over." Lilly said.

"Actually…" Lee said. "Vince and I are going to hang back with the babies. We don't know these people all that well. If you can, just get our meal to go."

Larry glared at Lee and he said, "So you're going to starve those girls because you don't want them to be fed by other people, is that it?"

"It's not like that. If everything goes well and we get a trade set up between the St Johns and ourselves, then sometime in the future, we'll take the girls over, but not now." Vince said. "Not when we barely know these people."

"You two make me sick. You have a chance to feed them, but you rather starve them instead." Larry said.

"We're more worried about their safety, you f***** asshole." Vince snapped.

Larry gritted his teeth and he got in Vince's face. "Don't test me…" Larry hissed. He turned to Lee and he said, "And don't forget that I know who you really are."

"We're not going!" Lee snapped at Larry. "And you aren't taking the girls with you either. Otherwise, this is going to get violent." He placed his hand over his handgun.

Larry glared at Lee and he said, "If they die from hunger, we'll know who to blame."

"Just get going." Lee said. He did his best to keep himself calm, but the older man was trying his patience.

"Come on dad... Let's get to the St Johns." Lilly said as she gave Lee and Vince a glare. She didn't like that they were arguing with him. However, neither man cared.

"I'll ask them if we can bring you back something to eat." Katjaa said to Lee and Vince.

"Thanks… we appreciate it." Vince said.

"Yeah. Thank you Katjaa." Lee said.

Katjaa nodded and went over to the group. "Alright… we'll be back. Carley… you keep an eye on things." Lilly said. "After all… I can trust you…" Her last set of words were in a dark tone which was aimed at the men. She didn't like that Vince and Lee were arguing with Larry. Plus, she knew Wyatt used recreational drugs moderately or at least used. Finally, she barely knew Ben.

"Yeah… whatever." Carley muttered. She definitely didn't like Larry because of all the fights he caused. She did respect Lilly, but barely.

Lilly turned her back to the group and led everyone else to the St Johns. Wyatt and Vince pushed the dumpsters into place as the group left.

"So… you two don't trust the St Johns?" Carley asked as Vince and Wyatt came back over.

"Not enough with the girls." Lee said.

"I have to admit… It felt like they were hiding something. I mean you don't see people like that… not anymore." Wyatt said. "It might just be the paranoia talking, but… I just don't trust them."

"I don't know… they seem like good people." Ben said.

Carley pondered on their words and she said, "Wyatt, Ben… you two be ready to head out around eight."

"Carley?" Ben asked.

"Just in case. They should be back around eight. There's no reason why they should be out there for that long." Carley said.

"Alright… that sounds reasonable." Wyatt said.

"Okay… what about Lee and Vince?" Ben asked.

"They'll stay and look after the girls." Carley said.

Vince sighed and he said, "I would go on watch, but Danielle might wake up at any time right now… and I don't think she'll be too happy if someone other than me gets her."

"That's fine. You have responsibilities now. Let us pick up some of the work." Carley said. "I'll teach Ben how to do watch. We'll save shooting for some other day." Carley said. She gestured the teenager to follow her and they went up on top of the RV.

It wasn't long until Lee and Vince could hear faint crying from the room. "I guess that's your cue." Wyatt said. "I'm going to go chill on the couch."

"Alright… we'll probably be over in a bit." Vince said. Wyatt walked over to the couch while Vince and Lee went to the room that the toddlers were in. "I'm going to guess that's Danielle since Clementine will usually climb out of the crib and go find you… if you forget to go check on her."

"Yeah… hope they got enough sleep." Lee said.

Vince opened the door and the two men entered the room. To their surprise, both girls were crying. "Hey…" Vince said as he went over and picked up Danielle. "Sh… It's alright." Vince said as he craddled the girl in his arms.

Lee picked up Clementine and started to comfort her as well. "It's alright, sweet pea." Lee said. It didn't take long for the girl's crying to turn into whimpers. Clementine was easier to calm down than Danielle. Vince had to comfort her longer. "Are you okay?" Lee asked as he held the toddler.

"She loud. It made ears hurt." Clementine said.

"She's a bit younger than you honey. That's probably the only way she could get out of the crib." Lee explained. Although, it wasn't exactly true since Danielle was old enough to yell out names, Lee still didn't want to confuse Clementine. She wouldn't understand the concept of trauma. "You ready to go out and play?" Lee asked.

Clementine smiled and nodded her head. "Alright. Let's get to it." Lee said as he placed the toddler on the ground and she ran out the door. Lee and Vince followed, but Danielle chose to remain in Vince's grip. He was no longer cradling her; instead, he carried her more like a toddler. She also had the pacifier in her mouth.

The two men went out to the play area where Clementine was coloring. "Wow, look at that. You're going to be an artist when you grow up." Wyatt said with a kind voice. He was pretty good with Clementine. She was nervous around him at first, but since he liked hanging out with Lee, Vince, Justin, and Bud, she eventually relaxed when around him.

"Thanks." Clementine said with a smile.

"Here." Vince said as he sat down on the ground with Danielle in his lap. "Show me how you color." He looked to Clementine and he asked, "Hey Clem… won't mind if I borrow a coloring book and some crayons?"

"I not mind." Clementine said with a smile.

"Thank you." Vince said. He picked up a nearby coloring book and placed the crayons between the two girls. He brought up a pink crayon and he asked, "Do you like pink?" The toddler nodded her head in response. "Okay, can you color with pink?" Vince asked. The toddler nodded again and started to color.

Lee sat down next to Clementine as she colored. "I miss you today. I wish you not go out." Clementine said.

Lee looked to the toddler. She had a frown on her face. "Sorry sweet pea." Lee said. "But I have to go out there. I have to help the group."

Clementine nodded before she went back to drawing. Lee wished that he could stay put and watch her the whole time, but he knew that he had to help the group.

Clementine looked around the motor inn and she asked, "Where everyone go?"

"They went to go get something to eat." Lee said.

"Where?" Clementine asked with a curious look.

Lee looked up to Vince and Wyatt before he turned back to the toddler. "A dairy farm." Lee said.

Clementine frowned and she pouted. "I wanna go." She said.

"You will… Next time, we'll take you down." Lee said.

Clementine stood up and she said, "I go now!" Clementine demanded. Lee was surprised. It wasn't like her to act this way.

"Honey… we don't know the people who own the farm." Lee said.

"I go!" Clementine exclaimed. She wasn't listening. Lee was wondering if she was getting into her terrible twos. He would make sure that they wouldn't last long. He decided to get her to calm down one more time before he started to get stern.

Lee shook his head and he said, "We'll go next time. Now please… settle down."

"I go! I go! I go!" Clementine exclaimed. She started to throw a temper tantrum. Hot tears started to form in her eyes. She started to cry again, but Lee leaned over and pulled her in with a strong set of hands. He wasn't going to paddle her. He would save that as a last resort.

"Why are you acting this way?" Lee asked in a stern voice.

"I wanna go… to the farm…" Clementine sobbed. She hiccupped in between her sentence.

"Okay, I'll take you down next time, but I don't want to see you throwing a fit." Lee said. He relaxed his grip and hugged her. He figured that starting out passive and then becoming assertive would benefit on Clementine's growth and development more than anything else. He started to rub the girl's back. The girl was starting to calm down and she huffed. "Clementine, I didn't take you down because I want to keep you safe. Strangers are dangerous. Do you understand?" Lee said in a kinder tone of voice.

Clementine nodded her head in response, but Lee wasn't satisfied with that. "Repeat what I said." Lee said.

"Stranger bad." Clementine said.

"Good job." Lee said as he gave her a pat on the back. She was calm now. "Are you okay now? Are you still mad?"

"I not mad anymore…" Clementine said.

"Good… I love you." Lee said.

"I love you too." Clementine said as she looked up with a smile on her face.

Lee knew that she didn't react well with yelling, so he tried to avoid that. One time, Katjaa yelled at her because she apparently didn't listen. Afterwards, she ran to the room that she shared with Lee and didn't come out until Lee came back from the run and coaxed her to come out. After that, they all learned that she hated yelling, but from it, she learned to listen when told not to do something especially if Katjaa was telling her to not do something.

"Alright… you can go back to coloring." Lee said.

"Otay." Clementine said. She got up from his lap and went back to coloring.

"What's wrong?" Vince asked. Lee looked back over to see what Vince had meant. He was looking down to the girl in his care. She had stopped coloring and was now doing something else. Lee had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing. The two year old in Vince's lap was grunting and she had the infamous poop face. Lee had seen Clementine do the same a few times. She would just stop whatever she was doing, make the same face while grunting, and load her diaper. Wyatt did the same as Lee and looked to Clementine who was unaware of the situation. Soon the girl stopped grunting and her face returned to normal.

Vince frowned. "Oh no… you didn't do what I think you did, right?" Vince said.

Clementine sat upright and held her nose. "Sometin stinky." Clementine said.

Vince stood upright with his arm around Danielle's waist. "Alright… I'm pretty sure that's you." Vince said. "Lee can I-?"

"You don't have to ask." Lee interrupted him. "Just go ahead and get her cleaned up. I don't care what you use."

"Thanks…" Vince said. "Is there a way I can convince you to change her?"

"Nope… that's all you." Lee said.

Vince groaned and he said, "I'm going to throw up…" He walked to room twenty-four to clean up Danielle.

Clementine uncovered her nose as the bad smell disappeared. "Did she poopy?" Clementine asked which made Wyatt laugh out loud while Lee chuckled.

"Yes honey. She pooped. Vince is going to change her." Lee said.

"Oh my gosh…. Oh… you just gotta love kids sometimes. They just say the funniest things imaginable." Wyatt said.

Lee chuckled as he patted Clementine on the back. "Go back to coloring, sweetheart." Clementine seemed hurt by them laughing. "Sweetie were not laughing at you. You just said something really funny."

"Yeah. Sorry, Clem. We won't do that anymore." Wyatt said.

Clementine smiled before she went back to coloring.

A few minutes later, Vince came back outside carrying Danielle. He placed the toddler on the ground next to Clementine and the older toddler greeted her with a smile. "Hi." Clementine said in a cheery voice.

"Hi…" Danielle said in a nervous voice.

Vince walked over and sat down next to Wyatt. "That was horrible." Vince said. He didn't say it loud enough for the girls to hear.

"At least it wasn't a blowout." Lee said. He remembered that Clementine did that once. It ruined her shirt and he had to give her a cold bath immediately after. He had to enlist Katjaa's help that day.

Vince scoffed and he said, "Do you ever get used to it?"

"Yeah… over time you get used to it. It's just a part of life." Lee said.

"Yeah… let's hope this part doesn't last long." Vince said.

Both men chuckled in response. The rest of the day continued as normal. The girls eventually got bored of coloring and wanted to play hide and seek. The three men had no choice but to play. They were surprised to see that the two toddlers were getting along so well. After a while, Wyatt and Carley switched jobs. He took over on watch and she played with the girls.

"Alright… one last game of hide and seek, then we need to get some food in you girls, okay?" Lee said.

"Otay." Both girls said with smiles. Danielle had opened up more over the course of the afternoon.

"Alright, I'm going to start counting." Lee said. He closed his eyes and started to count. "One, two, three…"

He heard Carley whisper, "Come on, this way."

"Four, five, six." Lee counted. He heard the footsteps become fainter as he counted.

"Seven, eight, nine, ten." Lee opened his eyes and he said, "Ready or not, here I come." Lee said. He looked around the motor inn for the two toddlers and their accompanying adult; however, they were nowhere in sight. So, Lee checked upstairs on the second story.

"Aw man…" Vince said. He and Danielle had been hiding by staying flat on the ground of the second story.

"He find us." Danielle giggled.

"Yeah… I thought this was a good spot too." Vince said as he got up.

"I'll give it to you. That was a good spot." Lee said. "I still need to find Clem and Carley."

"Good luck." Vince said.

Lee nodded and he went down the stairs. He went toward his room next. He looked around inside the room and checked under the beds first. "Nope… not there." Lee said. He heard giggling from the closet. Lee smirked and went to the closet next. He opened it to see Carley inside while having an arm around Clementine's waist to hold her. The toddler laughed and giggled upon being found.

"That was a good spot." Lee said.

"We tried…" Carley said.

"Come here, sweet pea." Lee said as he picked her up from Carley's grasp and carried her on his hip.

"Well… I'll go get something for them to eat." Carley said.

"Sounds good. Thanks." Lee said.

"Of course." Carley said. She walked out of the room and was soon followed by Lee who was carrying Clementine.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: *sigh* Well, we saw Lee in action as a parent. Babies are cute, but they do get easily frustrated. It takes a lot of patience and endurance to handle their temper tantrum and since all kids develop differently, you'll have to figure out what works best. However… haha… Oh Vince… to experience the joys of parenthood.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Both Danielle and Clementine were given a small box of animal crackers for supper. It was the most Bud could do for them before he left. There wasn't much food left in the motor inn.

After they ate, the girls went ahead and played with some of the toys that were scattered around the motor inn. However, that soon turned into playing tag. They laughed and squealed as one ran from the other. "They're cute." Lee said with a chuckle as he watched them. He and Vince were picking up the coloring books and crayon because of the approaching storm.

"Yeah they are…" Vince said with a smile. He looked up and he said, "I doubt they're going to like this storm."

"You got a point there." Lee said. "Clem hates storms."

"I doubt Dani's any better." Vince said.

After they had picked up the remaining coloring books and crayons, they took the items to Lee's room. They kept in a neat pile near the door for when the storm passed by.

"Hey." Carley said from the doorway. Both men stood upright and looked to her. "Listen… those guys aren't back yet… I'm going out there to see what the problem is. Wyatt and Ben are coming with me."

"Okay… Lee… you've taken care of a baby longer than I have. I'll let you take care of the girls while I'll do watch." Vince said.

Lee nodded in response. He knew that he would have his work cut out for him. Even with both toddlers being exhausted and very mature for their ages, he would still have to put them to sleep.

"Alright… we'll be back as quick as we can." Carley said. She left the room and the two men went outside. They saw Ben and Wyatt at the gate. They were ready to head out.

"Where they going?" Clementine asked. The two men looked down to her and Danielle. The toddlers were looking at them with curious glances.

"Don't worry. They'll be back. They're going out to the farm to go check on the others." Lee said.

"Is everyone otay?" Clementine asked.

"We think. They're just going down to make sure." Vince said.

"You two don't have to worry about it. They'll be back. As for now… I think it's bed time." Lee said.

"We stay up a little longer?" Clementine asked.

"Nope. You had a long day, and that storm's almost on top of us." Vince said.

"Yeah… storm bad." Danielle said with a frown.

"Yes it is. Storm can be very bad, but we'll be alright." Vince said. "And… well… with everyone out there, I'll have to go on watch which means Lee will have to take care of you for the rest of the evening, Dani."

Danielle shook her head and she said, "You take care of me."

"I can't honey… Someone's got to take watch. Don't worry. Lee has been taking care of Clementine for three months now. He knows what he's doing." Vince said.

Danielle pouted in response. Lee looked to Vince and he said, "She likes you."

"Yeah… I guess so." Vince said.

Lee leaned over and picked up the two toddlers. He had one on each hip. "Well… good luck." Vince said.

"You too." Lee said.

They turned and went in opposite ways of each other. Vince went on watch while Lee would have the task of putting two toddlers to bed at the same time.

Lee went into the room and thunder roared from outside. The girls tensed up and squealed in horror. Lee shushed them and he said, "It's okay… It sounds scary, but it won't hurt you." Lee said as he set the girls down on the bed

"I'm going to do some things really quick before we read a bed time story." Lee said to the girls. The two toddlers nodded but it was obvious that they were scared.

Lee went over and lit the candle in his room. He then grabbed a baby book and a couple of pacifiers. One was new. The new one would be for Danielle. Lee set the baby book on the bed and placed the pacifiers in the girls' mouths. Lee then changed them into their pajamas which were two of Clementine's pajamas.

He sat on the bed and picked up the girls so that they were sitting on his lap. He grabbed the baby book and he said, "Okay, let's read this one." He opened up the book and started to read the book. As he read, the thunder did crash a couple of times from outside, but aside from Danielle jumping a bit, neither girl cried too much. It definitely helped that Lee was holding them and the pacifiers were there to comfort them.

Once Lee had finished reading to them, both girls were leaning on him. They were on the verge of falling asleep. Lee set the book down and placed Clementine on the bed in order to put them in the crib. It would require both arms, and Clementine was easier to deal with if she got upset. Lee placed Danielle in the crib before he went over and picked up Clementine. He then placed her in the crib. "Good night Danielle. Good night Clementine. You two sleep well and don't fight with one another." The girls were only half listening as he tucked them in. Of course, Lee figured that they would be best friends considering their circumstances and how they had gotten along today. Soon enough, they were asleep.

Lee went over and started to read out of his book until he heard the dumpsters from outside. He looked up to see that the group had returned. Lee got up and went outside. The thunder and rain had passed. Lee walked over to the group. He was surprised to see them with somber looks. "Is everything alright? Where'd you get all that stuff?" Lee asked.

"Why do you care?" Lilly snapped as she shoved him and went to her room.

"What's your deal?" Lee inquired.

"F*** off." Lilly spat.

"Don't give that bitch any attention. She's been in a pouty mood since her dad died." Kenny said.

Lee looked around and he said, "Where's Larry and Mark?"

"Dead…" Kenny said. "We would have joined them if Bud hadn't stepped up and Carley, Wy, and the kid didn't show up."

"What happened over there?" Lee asked.

Bud sighed and he said, "A lot…"

"I'm all ears." Lee said.

Bud looked to Lee for a few seconds until he said, "You were right in keeping the girls here. Those St Johns were cannibals."

Lee's eyes widened and he said, "Holy shit…"

"Yeah… Mark and I went out and checked their fence, but we ended up getting attacked by the bandits. They shot arrows at us… One of them got Mark in the shoulder. We somehow got out of that and they promised that they would help him…" Bud explained.

"A promise that they didn't keep. Those sick f**** fed him to us." Kenny spat. "When Bud found out about it, they took us hostage and threw us in the cooler."

"Larry had a heart attack… There was nothing we could do for him." Bud said.

"That was the one benefit of that trip." Justin said.

"How could you say that?" Katjaa asked with horror in her voice.

"Because it's the truth. His death was a long time coming. I don't feel sympathy towards him. I'm glad he's gone. What did he ever do? He beat up Lee, treated him and Vince like shit, and he snapped at everyone." Justin said. "We'll move on easily from his ass."

"Do you have any respect for him now that he's gone?" Katjaa exclaimed.

"Calm down, hon." Kenny said.

"No! Look, I understand that Larry was hard to deal with… but you have no right in criticizing him like that." Katjaa said.

"I don't care. I'm just glad he's gone. We'll do much better without him… well most of us anyway…" Justin said.

"Damn dude… That's cold…" Wyatt said.

"Please… I'm just saying what we're all thinking." Justin said.

Katjaa shook her head and stormed off from the group. Duck followed her. "She'll get over it… We're all a little emotional after losing some folks." Kenny said in an uncaring tone of voice. He didn't care about Larry dying either.

"Where'd you get all of this stuff?" Lee asked.

"Some Volkswagen when we were coming back." Kenny explained.

"I still didn't want to take it since whoever owned it could still be alive and have kids, but…" Bud said; however, he trailed off.

"Hey… we left half of it behind. More than what we should have…" Kenny said with a tang of anger in his voice. He and some of the other group members started to haul the supplies to the storage room.

"It was the least we could do." Bud said.

Lee turned his head when he saw Justin walk away from the group.

Vince approached him and Justin said, "Thank you, Vince."

"So… your mind's made up?" Vince asked.

Justin nodded and he said, "Yeah…"

Vince huffed before he said, "Good luck out there."

Justin smiled and he said, "Thanks… I'm going to be taking off tomorrow morning." He walked over to his room. Lee knew that it was going to be the last night that he would stay in it.

Vince walked up to Lee and he said, "Hard saying goodbye to him. Didn't think that it would end like this."

"Yeah… you going to be alright?" Lee said.

"I'll have to be. I got a little girl to look after… Speaking of which… Won't mind if I bunk in the same room as you for a while?" Vince said.

"I don't mind. I think it's a good thing that you're becoming a father figure to her." Lee said.

"Yeah… Call me soft-hearted. She's a good little baby…" Vince said with a smirk.

"I know the feeling." Lee said. "Let's help them get that stuff over to storage so we can get some rest."

"Sounds good." Vince said. The two men walked over and helped Bud, Wyatt, Kenny, Carley, and Ben get the supplies in one of the rooms. It was designated as a storage room. "Alright… that's good…" Bud said as he closed the door to the storage room.

"Well… who's got watch?" Vince said. "I can do it if you need me to."

"Nah… Ken and I will do it. I don't think we're going to get much sleep tonight." Bud said.

"Can't say I blame you." Wyatt said. "That was one f***** up situation."

"Yeah… but we learned from it. From now on… we have to be weary of strangers." Bud said. "Otherwise, Mark's sacrifice was in vain."

"Agreed." Lee said.

"Damn straight." Kenny added.

"Alright… get some shut-eye… we have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Bud said. The group dispersed with Bud taking watch and the group members turning in for the night. Kenny got what rest he could before he took over on Bud's watch.

 **One Week Later**

Lee and Kenny went through the desolated streets of Macon. They had to maneuver around abandoned cars and debris from the buildings. They were in Macon again to get food, medicine, and other supplies from the pharmacy. Lee walked out into the middle of the central street with the hunting rifle in hand.

The street was empty. There were no walkers in sight. "Looks like today's our lucky day." Kenny said as he walked up to Lee.

"Yeah… things might actually go smoothly for once." Lee said.

"We deserve it after last time." Kenny said. They walked down the street toward the pharmacy. Lee looked around to make sure that there weren't any walkers approaching them. "So… Lee… what's your decision on leaving or staying. I doubt your buddy, Justin, is going to come back at all."

Lee shook his head and he said, "As much as I hate to say it, we're going to have to leave. Those bandits have been attacking us non-stop and we're almost out of supplies." Lee said. "I hate to do that since the motor inn lets me teach Clementine. I've been teaching her how count and how to say complete sentences."

"Glad to hear you're on board. I know we haven't had the best of history, but I'm glad that you and Bud are willing to come." Kenny said in a more satisfied tone.

"Who's all willing to go?" Lee asked.

"Everyone but Lilly." Kenny muttered. "Figures that she would be difficult…"

"She lost her dad… Still… it's getting dangerous. I understand that she needs to mourn, but for crying out loud, it's putting us in danger. I'm surprised that those bandits haven't attacked us recently or gotten anyone killed." Lee said.

"Exactly. We need to up and go before they decide that they're done toying with us." Kenny said.

"Yeah… You got a point." Lee said. They reached the ladder to the semi-truck trailer. The truck blocked off the rest of the street, so both men have climbed over it in the past and get inside through the back entrance.

"Alright, over the rig and into the pharmacy. We'll grab everything we can." Kenny said.

"We didn't leave much in there." Lee said.

"Well we're out of options. Something's better than nothing." Kenny said. He turned and climbed up the ladder. Lee took look-out again and he looked around for any walkers. "Shit…" Kenny muttered.

Lee looked back over to Kenny and he asked, "You alright?"

"The ladder broke. I don't know how many trips she's got left in her." Kenny said as he looked to the ladder. It had broken off from the trailer.

"Looks like it's done." Lee said as he walked up to it. He pulled on it which was enough for it to break off. The ladder fell to the ground and Lee shook his head.

"What now?" Kenny asked.

"I'll find another way up there." Lee said. He looked around the destroyed town until he noticed a nearby jeep with a winch attached to it. He took hold of the hook and started to pull it toward the semi-truck trailer.

"I guess this'll be our last trip here. Personally, I want to leave Macon tomorrow." Kenny said.

"That sounds good." Lee said. "It'll give us enough time to gather up essential supplies." He attached the hook to the axle of the trailer. He walked back over to the jeep and turned on the winch. The device dragged the jeep forward as Lee walked alongside it.

"Duck was asking about that guy at the dairy last night." Kenny said.

"I didn't think it phased him. Happened a while ago." Lee said.

"That doesn't matter… I guess he's still been thinking about what happened." Kenny said.

"It was a scary situation with Shawn dying…" Lee said as the winch dragged the jeep into the semi-truck trailer.

"I'm just worried that he'll always think that it was his fault." Kenny said.

"Well… it's not… That was a tough situation." Lee said as he got on top of the jeep.

Kenny leaned over and extended his hand out to Lee. "You sure you're up for this?" Lee asked.

"Come on, Lee. I'm fine. Just give me your hand." Kenny said.

Lee shrugged and jumped up to grab Kenny's hand. Kenny groaned as he got Lee up onto the semi-truck trailer. "Shit…" Kenny muttered as he gripped his side.

"You okay?" Lee asked.

"What do you think? I'm shot… I haven't been okay for the last few-" Kenny said but he was interrupted when a loud scream pierced through the dead town.

… **To be continued.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Alright, I did cut out the raid at the pharmacy with Lee, Kenny, and all the walkers. After all, we all know what happened.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee and Kenny walked back to the motor inn to see that the wall had new arrow shafts and bullet holes in it. There were also a couple of dead bandits outside the motor inn.

They walked into the motor inn and were greeted by Bud. "Hey… I hope you guys brought back something good. We've got the RV loaded. Now, we just need to get out of here." Bud said.

"Good. I say we leave now." Kenny said. "I wanted to leave tomorrow morning, but those a-holes out there aren't letting up from the looks of things."

"Hey! Stop loading the RV!" Lilly snapped. The men looked over to see Lilly approaching someone who must have been loading supplies into the RV.

Bud, Lee, and Kenny walked over to see Lilly take a bag of supplies from Wyatt and toss it aside. "You will NOT load this RV, understand?" Lilly snapped.

"Lilly enough." Bud said.

"You're not the boss of me." Lilly hissed at Bud.

"I'm in charge of this group!" Bud exclaimed.

"Well you shouldn't be… not after what you and Kenny did to my dad. You should be f****** dead!" Lilly snapped.

"I made the best call I could make at the time." Bud said. "I'm sorry for what happened to him, but we did not have any other choice."

"F*** you! You didn't give him a chance." Lilly snapped. She shoved Bud out of the way and went to her room. It was followed by the door slamming shut.

"She'll get over it…" Kenny muttered and he walked over to sit next to Katjaa.

Wyatt walked over and picked up the supplies. "This is the last of it." Wyatt said. "We're ready to leave." He went into the RV and placed the supplies inside.

Bud huffed and he said, "Everything's coming to a head. Some leader I turned out to be. Doug, Mark, and Larry are dead and Glenn and Justin are who-knows-where."

"Bud… you stepped up and became a leader for everyone here and look around you… Look who's alive and breathing. Under our circumstances, I don't think anyone could have done it any better." Lee said.

Bud smiled and he said, "Thanks Lee… I just…" His smile turned into a frown. "I feel like I don't make the right decisions at times."

"Bud… you have to tell me what happened at the St Johns." Lee said.

Bud shook his head and he said, "I can't, Lee."

"You have to… I'm worried, Bud. You haven't been the same since the St Johns." Lee said.

Bud sighed and he said, "Alright… Come on. I'll tell you in private."

Lee nodded and he followed Bud into his room. He hadn't been in Bud's room for a while. It was still an unorganized mess. There were several notebooks everywhere. "Looks like you've been busy." Lee said.

"That's right." Bud said. "I keep track of everything. People we met, supply count, people we lost… People are going to look back and wonder what happened when the human race had a temporary drastic decline." Bud said.

"You think this will be over some day?" Lee asked.

"I don't think… I know. This virus started out strong, but it's using corpses as a vessel… Sooner or later, these corpses will wither away into nothing." Bud said.

"I guess you got a point." Lee said.

"Anyway… To answer your question, a lot happened. The St Johns seemed nice at first, but it became more and more apparent that they were hiding something. It all started when I went to do some chores at the barn. Andy stopped me immediately. Later… this next part is so f***** up… Danny and I went to this camp to attack the bandits… same ones that attacked Mark… Well, all we found was a mentally unstable woman. When I checked the tent… I found a picture of her with a young girl… It was Danielle. It was her mother… I tried to talk her down, but then Danny shot her…"

"Holy shit… Poor kid… She really doesn't have anyone now." Lee said.

"Yeah… I had to tell Vince the other day so he could break the news to her." Bud said with a frown.

"I guess she didn't take it too well." Lee said.

"Not at all… Poor kid… It only got worse from there… I found out about this room in back of their barn. Had blood everywhere. Andy found me but I lied to him. Told him that I found it opened. He seemed alright with it. Said something about his brother probably leaving it open. We went in for dinner and I came up with an excuse… I went upstairs and that's when I found Mark… After that… they dragged us to the meat cooler… Larry had a heart attack and well… I did what I had to in order to survive. I'm not proud of it… but if I had helped Lilly, we would have all died."

"What'd you do?" Lee asked.

"…I pulled Lilly back so Kenny could drop a salt lick on Larry's head." Bud said.

Lee's eyes widened before he nodded his head. "I'm sorry you had to do that." Lee said.

"Well… yeah…" Bud said with a huff. "I think I need some time to clear my head, Lee. How about you go check on Clem. She missed you when you left this afternoon." Bud said.

"Okay… You know where I'll be." Lee said. He got up and walked out of the room. He felt bad for Bud, but he knew that Clementine was probably eager to see him.

* * *

"Lee!" Clementine exclaimed. She got up and ran up to him. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with her dress and tights to stay warmer.

Lee chuckled before he bent down and picked her up. "Hey there. You missed me, didn't you?" Lee said.

"Yeah… I made drawing. You wanna see?" Clementine asked.

"Sure baby." Lee said. He placed her on the ground and she ran over to the play area where her drawing was. Lee sat down and the toddler showed him the drawing. "Wow Clem. Good job." Lee said.

"Thanks." Clementine said. She frowned and she asked, "Where we go?"

Lee knew what she meant. "We're going to try and find somewhere safer to live." Lee said.

"Here is not safe?" Clementine asked.

"I'm afraid not honey. It's not safe anymore… Bad people keep attacking us." Lee said.

"Yeah… they come today. It scary…" Clementine said.

"It's okay hon. They won't hurt you… I'll make sure they won't." Lee said.

Clementine smiled and she said, "That good."

 **One Hour Later**

Lee had been watching and playing with Clementine as she drew and colored. It was nice to relax with her after a very difficult run.

"Wy?" Vince said. Lee looked up to Vince with a questioning stare before he followed his line of vision. He turned around in time to see Wyatt go into Bud's room. He was holding a brown paper bag in his hands.

"What was that all about?" Lee asked as he got up. He was wondering if Bud was alright and what Wyatt was doing. However, Lee stopped when he heard a new voice. "Don't move asshole!" A man said. Lee looked over and his eyes widened. The dumpsters rolled away and several other people entered the motor inn. They were all bandits.

Lee raised his hands and looked over to who was on watch. "Ben." Lee said with a growl in his voice.

"I didn't see them, okay… One minute there was nothing, next minute, they're here." Ben exclaimed.

"Shut up and get your asses over here!" The supposed leader snapped.

Lee huffed before he walked over to where the bandits were. They had already captured Kenny, Duck, and Katjaa. "Hands over your head and on your knees." The bandit leader snapped.

The group had no choice but to oblige. Both toddlers were afraid, but they didn't cry. Something must have told them not to; otherwise, the bandits would focus on them.

"You don't f***** steal from us!" The bandit leader shouted. He must have been trying to get the attention of the rest of the group to show them the seriousness of the situation. Meanwhile, Carley walked over and was forced into the same position. "You assholes f***** with the wrong people… and now… we're going to take everything that you have! I've had enough with this bullshit! Drew start putting your foot to these doors!"

"Yeah!" A bandit said. Lee looked over to see Wyatt approach the group with his hands up.

"Hold it asshole." The bandit leader said as he aimed the gun at Wyatt.

"Easy man… no need to get violent here." Wyatt said. "What do you want?"

"We want three times as much as you've been giving us." The bandit leader said.

"Fine… whatever. You got a deal." Wyatt said.

The bandit leader lowered his gun and he said, "Well… I suppose we have to hash out some terms."

"I don't like no hash." One of the bandits said.

"Man shut up or I'll-" The bandit leader said. However, he was suddenly shot in the head.

"Shit!" One of the bandits exclaimed before he was shot by the same snipper.

"Move!" Wyatt exclaimed.

Lee picked up Clementine and he ran to the RV. Vince ran alongside him with Danielle in his arms. Both of the girls were whimpering in fear as gunshots whirled by. It was as if the bandits had organized an army to attack the motor inn. Lee reached behind the RV and took cover. He looked up to see Bud reloading his hunting rifle. He must have been the sniper that killed the two bandits that were holding the group hostage.

"Wy!" Vince exclaimed as the stocky man took cover behind a couch where Ben and Carley were. They were pinned down.

"We're going to have to help." Lee said.

"Yeah." Vince said. He and Lee went into the RV and placed the two toddlers at the table in the very back.

"Listen, Vince and I need to go out there and help everyone. We'll be back." Lee said.

"No, no, no! It too scary!" Clementine whimpered.

"Just be strong for a few minutes… That's all we're asking." Vince said. He stood up and left the RV with Lee following close behind.

Upon exiting the RV, both men got out their guns and went to opposite sides of the RV. They would have to wait for the bandits to get close enough since their handguns didn't work from so far away. Lee fired a shot which killed the closest bandit. "Shit!" The bandit from behind exclaimed. He tried to retreat behind cover, but Lee shot him.

The last bandit took cover behind some furniture and fired at Lee. Lee used the RV as cover. Vince walked over and he said, "Carley, Ben, and Wy are safe." Vince said.

"Good… I'm having trouble with this one." Lee said.

Vince nodded and he aimed his gun at the attacking bandit. Both men waited for the bandit to pop his head up again. The moment came and they fired a couple of shots into the bandit. "Alright… Hurry come on." Vince said.

Lee fired a shot at a nearby walker that was getting too close to Katjaa and Duck. They got inside the RV with Lee and Vince going in as well. "How's it coming along?" Lee asked.

"Working on it." Kenny said.

"Well, work faster… We don't have a lot of time." Lilly said.

"Ah shit…" Kenny muttered. "We got walkers."

"Wy and I will handle it." Carley said. She and Wyatt ran outside while Lee and Vince walked over to Danielle and Clementine.

Both girls had their arms up to be held.

"Sorry I had to do that." Lee said as he picked up Clementine and cradled her in his arms.

"It scary." Clementine said.

"I know… I'll need you to be a big girl from now on. Can you do that?" Lee asked.

"I try." Clementine said.

"It's okay honey. We're going to get out of this." Lee said. He looked through some of the bags until he found Clementine's. He got out a pacifier and placed it in her mouth. He looked over to Vince and Danielle. The toddler was already back to scribbling with a crayon. "She calmed down pretty quickly." Lee said

"Yeah… I guess she didn't want to be alone." Vince said.

Lee placed Clementine on his lap and got a coloring book out for her. Vince had the two share crayons as the gunfire from outside continued. Soon enough, the RV started up. Carley and Wyatt ran into the RV. Lee was starting to worry. He wasn't sure if Bud was going to make it inside.

Finally, Bud ran inside and the RV drove across the parking lot. There were several bumps which was followed by a loud crash. Lee released a sigh before he kissed Clementine on the top of the head. "I'm glad you're safe." Lee said to the toddler.

"Me too…" Clementine said underneath the pacifier.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…" Ben muttered. He looked up and he said, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Ben. Everything's fine." Carley said.

"Everything is not fine… We just lost everything." Lilly said.

"No… we didn't. We got a lot of supplies on the RV." Bud said.

"We're lucky as shit to have the RV." Kenny said.

"And nobody died." Carley said. "Let's just be thankful that no one got hurt."

Bud frowned and he said, "Unfortunately… Someone was working with them…"

"What?" Lilly hissed.

"What are you talking about?" Kenny asked. "That's nuts."

"It's not… I found a bag of supplies outside the wall." Wyatt said.

"Look… this isn't easy, but… someone's going to have to fess up." Bud said.

"And what's going to happen to the person that did it?" Carley asked with a glare aimed at Bud.

"I won't have a choice but to send them on their way. We can't take risks." Bud said. Carley looked to Bud with wide eyes. She seemed almost afraid of him.

"So… Carley… have anything you want to say?" Lilly asked.

"What?" Carley inquired.

"We have to get it out of you then." Lilly said.

"Now hold on… you're just pointing fingers!" Carley exclaimed.

"I didn't just come up with this… I've had my suspicions." Lilly said.

"Carley's been with us from the very beginning. I know it wasn't her." Bud said.

"Shut up." Lilly hissed at Bud. "Three people are dead, two left, and now we lost our home… you're a horrible leader. It's now my turn to take over."

"No one wants you as leader." Bud said.

"I don't care. This isn't about wanting anymore, it's about needing." Lilly said.

"Let's just calm down." Lee said.

Lilly ignored him and glared at Ben and Carley. "Was it both of you? I've seen you two work together. Was it both of you?" Lilly exclaimed.

"Lilly enough of this." Bud said.

"Shit!" Kenny exclaimed as the RV shook and rocked.

"What's happening up there?" Lilly asked.

"I hit something we got to pull over." Kenny said.

"Well… we can settle this now then…" Lilly said.

"This needs to stop now! This isn't working!" Bud exclaimed.

"Shut up… You had your chance to lead and it fell apart." Lilly snapped. Lee looked down and noticed that Clementine and Danielle were no longer drawing or coloring. Instead they were looking to the group.

A few minutes later, the RV rolled to a stop. "Ken, is it safe?" Bud asked.

"Should be." Kenny said.

"Everybody out." Lilly said. She turned and pushed Bud out of the way.

The group started to go outside. Lee shook his head. He would have to stay. He just hoped that Bud could diffuse the situation. However, it didn't sound like he was having much success. Lee looked down to Clementine and he said, "Can you draw me a pretty flower?"

Clementine nodded her head in response. However, Lee could tell that she was fighting off sleep. "It's pretty dark out there. We should see if they can fall asleep." Vince said.

"Yeah…" Lee said. He pulled back Clementine and started to wrap her in a blanket.

"Me play." Clementine said underneath the pacifier.

"You will in a few hours… It's time to sleep now." Lee said.

Suddenly there was a gunshot from outside. The toddler sat upright from the surprising gunshot.

"Kenny, what's happening?" Katjaa exclaimed.

"Keep Duck away from the windows! Holy shit!" Kenny exclaimed from outside. "Get in… We're leaving this crazy…" Kenny said but he trailed off. "Bud… hold on now… Bud!" Kenny exclaimed. It was followed by another gunshot.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: I'm evil for putting this cliffhanger here. Sorry we didn't see much of Baby Clem, but we needed to progress the plot a little.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee released several huffs as he waited for the group to come back inside. "What happening?" Clementine asked.

"I… I don't know sweet pea." Lee said.

He heard the door to the front of the RV opening. "What happened?" Katjaa asked.

"Later…" Kenny said.

There was inaudible talking from outside. It was followed by Wyatt, Ben, and a new boy entering the RV. They were finally followed by Bud. Lee breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Bud had gotten hurt or killed. However, Lee did notice that Lilly and Carley weren't with them.

The RV moved forward much to Lee's surprise.

"Wow… you weren't lying. You did have a couple of toddlers with you." The new boy said with a smile. "Hi, I'm Russell. What's your names?"

Vince smiled and he said, "This is Danielle. The baby on Lee's lap is Clementine. We usually shorten their names to Dani and Clem."

Danielle made baby talk underneath her pacifier while Clementine sent a smile to Russell.

"You two are too cute." Russell said.

"What happened out there?" Vince asked.

Wyatt shook his head and he said, "Lilly snapped. She killed Carley… then Bud killed her."

"Oh no…" Lee said. He looked over to Bud and he said, "I better got talk to him." He got up and went over to Bud while carrying Clementine. He sat down next to his younger brother. He seemed to be crying to himself. "Hey Bud…" Lee said as he sat down and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave me alone… I just need time to myself." Bud said as he shrugged Lee off.

Lee sighed and he said, "Okay Bud… I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Bud nodded in response.

"Bud sad." Clementine said underneath the pacifier.

Lee shushed her and turned her around. "Bed time sweet pea." Lee said as he laid her on his body and started to rub her back. It wasn't long until the toddler fell asleep. Lee sighed as he brought his head back to rest. It was a long day. They had lost the motor inn to a bunch of bandits, two of their own group members were dead, and they had a new boy in the group.

Lee was still pondering everything that happened when he heard Clementine moan. He looked down to the baby in his arms. He saw her look up at him. His world stopped. The pacifier fell out of her mouth, her skin was decaying and torn, and her eyes were milky white. In a second the walker that was the toddler lunged for him. "Oh shit! What happened?" Lee said as he tried to keep her back. Somehow, the toddler turned walker showed immense strength. He wasn't able to keep her back. She was about to bite down on his neck when suddenly everything went black.

Lee jumped and he opened his eyes. He huffed as he looked around. He noticed that everything seemed to be okay. It was all a dream… a very bad dream. He looked to the toddler that he was holding. She was asleep and curled up in his lap with the pacifier in her mouth.

"We got something up ahead." Kenny said from the front of the RV.

Lee didn't want to put the toddler down by herself, but he would have to see what was going on. He got up and placed Clementine on the couch. It was enough to wake her up. She yawned which caused the pacifier to fall out of her mouth while she stretched.

"Sorry… I have to go see what's up." Lee said.

Clementine sat upright and she nodded. Lee went to the front of the RV to see Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck. The boy had a huge grin on his face. "So cool… It's a train." Duck said.

"Well… at the moment, it's nothing more than a roadblock." Kenny said.

"Hmm… if it still works, we could use that to get to Savannah." Lee said.

"Hey… now there's an idea. Beats driving this thing around. I was crossing my fingers last night hoping that it wouldn't break down." Kenny said. "Come on. Let's go check it out. You, me, and Wy… I don't think Bud will be up for it."

"Yeah… it's probably for the best." Lee said as he looked back to his younger brother. He was still resting.

Lee went over to Clementine and he said, "Stay in here. I'm going to go check something out."

"Otay." Clementine said.

Lee went through the toddler's bag and pulled out her leapfrog game. "Can you play on that for a little while?" Lee asked.

Clementine smiled and nodded. She turned on the device and started to play a variety of spelling games. The volume was loud enough for her to hear while quiet enough so that it wouldn't disturb the rest of the group.

"What's going on?" Wyatt asked as he went up to Lee.

"There's a train blocking the road. Kenny wants us to investigate." Lee said.

"Sounds cool. Let's go check it out." Wyatt said. He walked out of the RV with Lee following close behind.

Once they were outside, they went up next to Kenny who was inspecting the train. "Well… is there a way around?" Wyatt asked.

"On foot, maybe… We can't really do that now." Kenny said.

Lee looked around to the surrounding brush and he said, "All this brush should stop anything from sneaking up on us."

"Good point. We should let the kids get out here and have a chance to run around and play." Wyatt said.

"Yeah… that sounds good. Go ahead and round up everyone from inside the RV." Kenny said.

Lee and Wyatt nodded. They went inside the RV to see that everyone was awake. "Alright. I think we're okay out there." Wyatt said. "Brush should stop anything from sneaking up on us."

"Yeah!" Duck exclaimed as he squeezed past the two adults. Lee and Wyatt separated to allow the group members to walk out of the RV.

Bud went up to Lee and he nodded. "Do you think anyone will listen to me after I killed someone out of vengeance?" Bud asked.

"I don't know about everyone else, but I will follow you." Lee said. "We're family, Bud. Nothing is going to change that." Lee said.

"I'll follow you too. You had every reason to throw me out when I showed up, but you didn't. If anything, you helped me… I just… I hope I can find Eddie someday." Wyatt said.

Bud nodded and he said, "Thanks." He walked out of the RV followed by Wyatt.

Lee looked over and noticed that Clementine remained completely still. She had a pacifier in her mouth. Her game wasn't on, but more than likely she turned it off. "Hey sweet pea, what's the matt-" Lee asked, but he stopped mid-sentence when he got a whiff of a foul odor. "Oh... Never mind. I think I know what's wrong." Lee said.

He went over and grabbed a changing mat, a new diaper, and baby wipes from her bag. He laid out the supplies before he picked her up. He placed her on the changing mat and started to push the dress and sweatshirt up and pull the tights down. "Bud sad. Carley gone." Clementine said.

"Yeah… Bud will get better, and Carley's in Heaven now, sweet pea." Lee said as he started to change the toddler's diaper.

Clementine's frown deepened and she asked, "Is mommy and daddy in Heaven? Is that why they not find me?"

"I don't know, honey. I'm afraid your guess is as good as mine." Lee said as he finished whipping her off and started to place the new diaper on. "You gotta keep in mind that they're pretty far from where we're at. Perhaps they're okay and are just having a hard time getting back home."

This answer must have satisfied Clementine. She nodded her head and she said, "Otay."

Lee finished the change and helped the toddler to her feet. "There we go… All clean." Lee said. He placed the supplies back into her bag. He then helped her up. Lee put her game, whips and changing mat back into the bag, while the toddler had her arms up in a gesture for Lee to carry her. "Give me one second." Lee said. He put the bag on before he leaned down and picked up the girl. She cuddled into him while he walked down the steps.

Once Lee got outside, he noticed that Duck was running around with Danielle chasing him. "Down." Clementine said. Lee chuckled before he placed the girl on the ground. She scampered over and chased after Duck as well. Lee walked over and sat down next to Vince.

"Yesterday was pretty rough." Vince said.

"Man… you can say that again. First time meeting you guys and I see two people get killed." Russell said.

"We're not normally like that." Lee said. "We're usually an okay group."

"I hope so. I don't want to work with another group… like Steve's." Russell said.

"What was Steve like?" Vince asked.

"Well… he was… he kept us safe from the beginning, but everyone else was dead to him. He kept saying that seven was the lucky number. As long as there was seven of us, we'd be okay. Anyone else was killed and stripped of supplies." Russell said.

"Damn…." Lee muttered.

"So what made you leave?" Vince asked.

Russell shook his head and he said, "Everything made me want to leave. I don't want to live a life like that… but I knew I wasn't strong enough to leave. It took me a while, but eventually I got the confidence and skills to survive… and that's when I left."

Vince nodded his head and he said, "Well… we're glad to have you with us."

Thanks… I'm glad to be here." Russell said. "I'm glad I actually found some decent people."

"Where were you heading before we met up with you?" Vince asked.

"Statesboro." Russell said. "I got some family there… if they're alive. "

Vince hummed and he said, "That's tough. I'm afraid we're heading to Savannah. At least… from the way Kenny's talking, we are."

"Well… That puts a bind on me. I was hoping to go there. I don't want to leave you guys, but I have to go and find my family." Russell said.

"I don't want to send you back out there on your own." Vince said.

"I'll go with him." Wyatt said. The two men and the teenager looked to Wyatt.

"You sure?" Vince asked.

"Yeah… I still think Eddie's alive, and if he is, I'll find him in this area." Wyatt said.

"We may never see each other again. Are you sure you want that?" Lee asked.

"Don't worry. I think we're all strong enough to keep going for the next couple of years." Wyatt said.

Suddenly, they jumped when they heard the train start up. "Holy shit. We're golden!" Kenny exclaimed as he walked up to Bud.

"Well how do you like that… They got the train started." Vince said.

"We ride in it?" Danielle's voice was heard. The men turned around and looked to the two toddlers.

"Maybe." Vince said.

"That be fun if we can." Clementine said.

"We'll have to wait and see. I'm not sure if it's ready to go." Lee said. "Now, if we do go on the train, you girls will have to be very careful. We'll be moving very fast. Trains can be dangerous."

"We will." Clementine said.

Lee heard footsteps from behind him. He figured it was Bud, but he was surprised when he heard an older, gruffer voice. "Howdy y'all."

Lee jumped up and looked to an older man. His clothes were in tatters and appeared to be old. He wore a yellow jacket, purple shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. It seemed he hadn't shaved in a while and his hair was grey and shaggy. The man chuckled and he said, "I was hoping to scare the pants off you." He had a sense of humor which was good.

"Yeah… well you succeeded." Lee said. "I'm Lee."

"Chuck… Charles if you're fancy." The man said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Vince." Vince said. "And these two are Danielle and Clementine."

Chuck smiled at the two and he said, "Been a while since I've seen a couple of babies."

"Hi." Clementine said with a smile.

"Hello." Danielle said. She also had a smile aimed at the man.

"Hi." Chuck said. "You know… I think I have some candy with me for you girls if your daddies are alright with it."

"We're alright with it, but neither of us are fathers to them." Vince said.

"Yay!" The two girls cheered. Chuck chuckled and he gave the girls some candy. He also gave Duck some candy. Lee picked up Clementine and set her on his lap as she enjoyed the candy. Vince did the same with Danielle.

"Thank you." Lee said.

"Of course." Chuck said.

"Hmm… I'll be back." Chuck said. "I see someone else who needs to be scared."

Lee turned and saw him watching his younger brother as he walked into the boxcar. "Scare him good." Lee said.

"Will do." Chuck said before he walked off to get inside the boxcar.

Lee chuckled and he said, "You don't see many people like that nowadays."

"Yes… I miss seeing people like that. Anymore, when you see people, you expect the worst." Katjaa said.

"These are trying times. Maybe one of the days we'll find somewhere to call home." Vince said.

"Yeah… I hope so…" Katjaa said.

Clementine finished the candy bar and she got off of Lee's lap. "I play." The girl said.

"Okay. Don't go too far." Lee said.

Clementine nodded while Danielle also got off of Vince's lap. The two played a game of tag with each other before Duck jumped in. "Good thing they can exhaust themselves." Lee said.

"Yeah… I'm going to miss them." Wyatt said.

"I can go on my own if you want to stay with your group." Russell said.

Wyatt shook his head and he said, "Nah… I got to get back on track. I got to find Eddie. After we go to Statesboro and if we can find Eddie, we'll try to find you guys."

"Okay… We'll do the same if Savannah is a bust." Vince said.

"Bud, you met Chuck!" Clementine exclaimed as she ran up to Bud.

"Yeah… I did." Bud said as he picked up the toddler.

"He gave us candy." Clementine said.

Bud looked to Lee who nodded in confirmation. "Welcome." Bud said.

"Thank you." Chuck said with a nod.

"You met Kenny?" Bud asked.

"Sure did… Man shares my love of the road." Chuck said.

"Hey Bud, we loose?" Kenny asked as he climbed down from the train.

"Yeah… we're good to go." Bud said. He placed Clementine on the ground and the toddler went to Lee. Lee picked her up and placed her on his lap again.

"Alright… we need to grab everything from the RV and get a move on." Kenny said.

"Yeah… about that." Wyatt said. "Russell wants to go to Statesboro, and well… I want to stick around to find Eddie."

"So what? You're leaving us?" Kenny inquired.

"It's not like that." Wyatt said.

"We can't force them to go." Vince said. "They take some of our supplies and the RV. We get the train and most of the supplies. I think that's fair."

Kenny grumbled and he said, "Fine…" He shook his head and he went back to the train.

"Ignore him. You're doing the right thing. He's just being difficult." Katjaa said.

"Alright… Vince, Lee can you guys help me get everything together?" Bud asked.

"Sure." Lee said.

"We're on it." Vince said.

The two men went into the RV and got most of the supplies remaining supplies. They did leave Russell and Wyatt enough to get them started towards Statesboro. They left some food, water, medicine, tools, gasoline, a couple of guns, some ammunition, and some other miscellaneous supplies.

"Alright… you're all set." Vince said as they left the RV. "Good luck."

"Thanks… you too." Wyatt said. He and Russell went into the cab of the RV while Vince and Lee picked up Danielle and Clementine and got on the train. Once they were on, the train started to move forward. It started off slow, but eventually, it took off.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: Don't worry guys. We'll see Wyatt and Russell again.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

The two babies were mesmerized at the passing forest. They just stared at the passing trees as the train moved forward. Eventually they did get bored at that and started to color. By this point, their nap time was getting close.

They were eating their lunch as they continued to color. "You two are easy travelers. Most kids get fussy when they go on long road trips." Vince said.

Danielle shrugged and she said, "Forest pretty."

"Yeah." Clementine said with a smiled.

"Yeah, you got a point there." Vince said.

"I miss Wy. He nice." Clementine said with a frown.

"Yeah… I'm sure we'll see him again." Lee said to Clementine.

"Lee… what about mommy an daddy? They still look for me in Atlanta?" Clementine asked.

"They might be honey, but who knows. They might still be in Savannah." Lee said.

Clementine began to cry and she sobbed, "I want mommy an daddy…"

Lee frowned and he pulled the toddler in for a hug. "I know baby. We're trying." Lee said. He figured that toddler was tired and missed her parents. She cried for a few minutes while Lee rubbed circles on her back. After a few minutes, Lee could tell that the toddler felt more like deadweight in his arms. She was asleep.

Lee looked over to Danielle and she asked, "Cwem lost mommy like me?" It was a brutal day when the group had to tell her that her mom was killed by Danny St John. Vince was there to comfort her, but she was still very upset.

"I don't know, sweetie. None of us really know what happened." Lee said. "Her mommy and daddy took a trip to Savannah which is where we're going." Lee said.

"Is it far?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, but we'll get there by tomorrow morning. We're in a fast train now." Vince said.

"Yeah…" Danielle said before she yawned.

"Alright baby girl. Let's get you to sleep." Vince said.

"I not wanna." Danielle said as she tried to wrestle out of his grip, but she was too tired to get out.

"It seems you don't have a choice." Vince said. He placed a pacifier in her mouth and she began to shut her eyes.

A few minutes passed by until Vince said, "You're going to have to tell her what happened. The longer you wait, the more distraught she'll be."

Lee sighed and he said, "I know… I'm just not ready for when that happens. She'll be devastated."

"You'll be there for her, just like how I was there for Danielle." Vince said.

"I know… I just hate to break it to her that her parents are gone." Lee said. There was silence between the two men after that. Lee looked down to the toddler. He didn't want to tell that her mother and father were gone. He contemplated on all of the ways that conversation would end. None of them would be good.

Lee was broken out of his thoughts when he felt the girl squirm. She was awake. She looked up to Lee with big eyes and she cuddled into him. "Mommy an daddy gone…"

Lee huffed and he said, "I don't know for sure Clem, but I think so. The day I found you, I went in your house and found the answering machine. Your mommy's voice was on there. She sounded okay in the first message, frantic in the second, and finally, sad in the last."

The toddler whimpered and she said, "I want them."

"I know you do baby… I'm sorry." Lee said. He went back to soothing the toddler as she cried again. Lee got out another tissue. He could tell that she needed to blow her nose again. She sniffled a little as her crying ended.

"Alright, sweetie." Lee said as he placed the toddler on his lap. "You got bugies again." He pressed down on one nostril and she blew through her nose. "Alright. One more time." Lee said. He pressed down on the other nostril and he cleaned up the remaining snot with the tissue. "Good job." Lee discarded the tissue as the toddler looked up to him.

"You can go ahead and color, but you can't run around. Not when we're on the train." Lee said.

"Otay." Clementine said with a frown.

"You okay honey?" Lee asked.

Clementine looked back up and she said, "You take care of me still?"

"Of course honey. I'll always be here for you." Lee said.

Clementine smiled and she said, "Good… thank you."

"You're welcome." Lee said. He let the young girl cuddle up on his lap as she colored in her coloring book. She did her best to color in between the lines, but it didn't turn out that way. Still she tried to get better at coloring.

It wasn't long until Danielle woke up as well. "Did you have a nice nap?" Vince asked.

The toddler nodded in response before she stood up. Vince took her small hand and he said, "You can't walk around Dani."

"Why not?" Danielle asked.

"The train is very dangerous. You might trip and fall off… Then you'll get hurt." Vince said.

Danielle sighed and she said, "Otay…"

"We ought to see if Ken can stop the train for a little while so they can get out and play around." Lee said. "I'm sure Duck would appreciate getting out and stretching his legs as well."

"Yeah. I'm sure he would." Vince said.

Everything was calm in the next few minutes until they heard Kenny shout over the PA system. "Oh shit! Hold on everyone!" Kenny exclaimed. Lee and Vince took hold of one of the metal bars that made up the skeleton of the boxcar while holding on to the toddler that they were holding.

The train screeched to a halt while both toddlers looked up to the men with confusion. "What going on?" Clementine asked.

"Not sure yet." Lee said as he got up with his arm around her waist. He went outside and placed her on the ground. Clementine wanted to run around. She was trying drag Lee, but Lee wasn't sure if the area was safe.

Vince had the same problem with Danielle. She wanted to run around and release some of her energy.

The two men saw why Kenny stopped the train. There was a diesel trailer dangling over the road.

Kenny, Katjaa, Duck, Ben, Bud, and Chuck got off the train and gathered around the new problem that they faced. "F***, f***, f***, f***, f***, F***!" Kenny exclaimed.

Lee cringed at every f-bomb dropped. Clementine and Danielle seemed frightened and horrified by the man.

"Kenny! The children heard that!" Katjaa snapped.

Kenny huffed out a breath and looked to the wrecked trailer.

"Maybe we can walk." Ben suggested.

Bud shook his head and he said, "No… we're still a long ways off from Savannah."

"Hmm… I don't know…" Chuck said. "I don't got much experience with y'all's fortitude, but we can probably deal with that. I mean we got a damn train." Chuck said.

"The train isn't full of milk, Charles. It's gas and diesel… something that will explode." Kenny said.

"You gotta get a hold of yourself. This a crew here." Chuck said.

"This ain't shit." Kenny snapped as he stared Chuck down.

"This-" Chuck said but he was interrupted by a new voice.

"Hey, if you guys keep screaming like that, you're going to get your faces chewed off." A man said. The group looked up to see him and a woman on top of the bridge. The man appeared to be much shorter than the woman, but they did seem to be the same age.

"Are you going to be trouble because we could have kept walking?" The woman said.

Kenny went for his gun but he was stopped by Bud. "If they meant to do us harm, they would have attacked us already." He looked up and he said, "No, we're friendly."

"That's what everyone says." The woman said.

"We know." Bud said.

"Let's give these guys a break." The man said to the woman.

"We'll see." The woman replied.

They turned back to the group and the man asked, "So is there a problem with your train?"

"Yeah… you're standing in front of it." Kenny said.

"Dude. It's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here. Send your buddy to check it out." The man said.

Bud went over to the ladder that went up to the bridge. "Careful Bud." Lee said.

"I will…" Bud said. He went up the ladder to the top of the bridge.

Lee could feel Clementine tug on his arm. "I play." Clementine whined.

"Okay. Just don't go too far." Lee said. Clementine nodded before she darted off to play. Danielle also ran off. Duck ran to join them along with Katjaa.

Lee looked back up to the bridge and waited for his brother to come down. The man and woman didn't seem too bad, but it was hard to tell nowadays. He continued to watch them as they talked.

"What's taking him so long? We need to get going again." Kenny said.

"Be patient. People can be tricky nowadays." Chuck said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Kenny muttered.

Chuck chose to ignore Kenny's bad behavior; however, he still gave him an angry look. Lee looked back to Kenny. He certainly wasn't being reasonable. Of course, he never really was reasonable, but now, it just seemed that he was snapping at anything that moved.

Lee heard footsteps coming down the ladder and saw his younger brother coming down with the woman and man. Bud approached the group who tensed up at the sight of them. "Hey guys, this is Omid and Christa. They're going to help us get that tanker down." Bud said.

"Hey, we just wanted to say that the train looks cool, and um… we wondering if we could tag along." Omid said. There was dead silence among the group.

"But we're not looking for charity." Christa said.

"But we could help you guys." Omid said.

"Probably…" Christa added.

"I saw that there was a train station not far from here." Bud said. "I'm going to go check it out and see if I can find something to cut the tanker loose."

"Sounds like a plan." Kenny said.

Lee turned around upon hearing a squeal of laughter. He was happy to see the kids have fun. "Woah… damn dude. You guys have a kid and a couple of toddlers. That's so awesome! I haven't seen a kid let alone babies for a long time." Omid said as he joined Lee.

Lee chuckled and he said, "Yeah… they're good… You want to go see them."

"Absolutely." Christa said. Lee walked over to the two toddlers who were running around and trying to catch Duck.

Lee smirked before he ran over and picked up Clementine. The toddler laughed and squealed as she tried to wrestle out of his grip. "Down pwease." Clementine said.

"In a minute baby girl. Don't you want to meet the new people?" Lee said.

Clementine looked over to Omid and Christa and she nodded her head. "Yeah." Clementine said.

Lee walked over with the toddler in his arms. "My gosh… look at her… She's so adorable… and so well mannered." Christa said.

"Her parents raised her well." Lee said.

"Won't mind if I hold her?" Christa asked.

Lee looked to the toddler and he said, "Clem would you be okay if Christa held you?"

"I be okay." Clementine said.

Lee smiled before he handed the toddler off to Christa. Surprisingly, the toddler cuddled into Christa. Meanwhile, the woman lightly bobbed her in her arms. "She's so precious." Christa said. "Where's her parents?"

"Savannah… I'm not exactly sure what happened to them." Lee said.

"She's a cutie. I'm sure she causes plenty of mayhem." Omid said.

"Nah, she really good." Lee said. "Both are actually really good."

The group soon hear footsteps approaching. It was Danielle. She had her arms up in a gesture for Christa to pick her up. She must have been jealous that she wasn't getting as much attention."

Christa adjusted her grip on Clementine and held with her hip before she squatted down and picked up Danielle. "So what's this cutie's name?" Christa asked.

"This is Danielle, but we usually shorten it to Dani." Vince said.

"You girls have very pretty names." Christa said.

"Thanks." The two girls said.

"Can you spell the shorten versions of your names?" Christa asked.

The two toddlers contemplated until Clementine said, "I try."

"Me too." Danielle said.

"Okay… Danielle, you go first. Spell Dani." Christa said.

"D-A-N-I." Danielle said.

"Good job." Christa said. She looked over to Clementine and she said, "Okay, Clementine, can you spell Clem?"

"K-L-E-M." Clementine spelled.

"You're so close. What else make the 'ca' sound." Christa said.

"Oh. C." Clementine said.

"Yes, can you spell it now?" Christa said.

Clementine nodded her head and she said, "C-L-E-M."

"Very good." Christa said. She leaned down and placed the two toddlers on the ground. "They seem rather smart."

"You have no idea." Vince said.

"We play now?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah go ahead, but don't go too far." Vince said.

Danielle nodded before she ran back over to Duck and Katjaa. Clementine followed behind her. "Hmm… Can't tell you how long it's been since we've seen kids." Christa said.

"Yeah… They certainly keep you on your toes." Lee said with a smirk.

Duck and the girls went back to playing until they heard Chuck playing on his guitar. They went over and sat in front of the man to listen to him play his guitar. The adults came over and joined them. For once, they were calm. Usually Duck was all over the place, and with Clementine and Danielle being so young, it was only natural for them to be all over the place.

Lee walked over and sat next to Clementine. She looked up to him and she asked, "Can I have my binky?"

"Yeah… I'll go get it." Lee said. He got up and went inside the train to retrieve the backpack that belonged to Clementine. It had most of her baby supplies and some toys inside.

He got out of the boxcar to see Bud coming back over. He was carrying a blowtorch and was huffing. "Bud? You alright?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… I think…" Bud said in between his huffs. "That train station had walkers. "Don't worry… I handled it."

"Bud… you should have come back over and got help." Lee said as he approached his younger brother.

"I handled it, Lee. Besides… you have to look after Clem." Bud said.

"Bud… she would have been fine if you would have come and got me. She's okay." Lee said. "We still have a strong group looking after her."

"Yeah… I guess you got a point." Bud said.

Lee sighed and he said, "Here. She wants her pacifier. It probably won't hurt giving her a toy. Go get yourself cleaned up. I'll handle cutting down the tanker."

"Are you sure?" Bud asked.

"Positive." Lee said. "Just make sure you get cleaned up first. She might be scared of you with all that blood on you."

"Yeah… okay…" Bud said.

"You didn't get bit, right?" Lee asked.

"I didn't get bit… I'm just… under a lot of stress at the moment." Bud said. "I just… I can't believe I lost Carley… She was… She made me really happy. I loved her…"

"I know, Bud. She'll be missed." Lee said as he placed a comforting hand on his younger brother's shoulder.

A couple minutes passed by until Bud said, "Thanks Lee." He went to the boxcar to clean up while Lee hauled the blowtorch up the ladder.

… **To be continued.**

 **A/N: I won't do a skip this time. The reason I did a skip last time is because it was the exact same in the game as in this fic.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"Hey… did I miss anything?" Omid asked as he reached the top of the ladder.

"Nah…" Lee said as he placed the blowtorch on the ground. He turned it on, but it didn't produce any flames.

"What's up?" Omid asked.

"The hose must have leak in it." Lee said.

"Shit! Turn it off man! I don't want to lose my eyebrows." Omid exclaimed as he backed away from the blowtorch.

Lee bent over and turned it off. He didn't want it to blow up either. "Well… shit… what now?" Omid asked.

Lee hummed as he looked around. He noticed an abandoned traffic vehicle nearby and he went toward it. There had to have been something in the vehicle. He opened up the trunk and discovered duct tape in the back with a couple of stop signs and traffic cones. "There we go. It seems it's our lucky day." Lee said as he picked up the duct tape.

"What'd you find?" Omid asked as Lee returned.

"Found some duct tape." Lee said as he used some of it to cover the hole in the hose. "There we go." Lee said. He turned the blowtorch on again which produced a flame this time. Lee used the blowtorch to cut the coupling of the second, dangling trailer from the rest of the rig which was still on the bridge.

"Wow… look at it go." Omid said.

"Almost got it…" Lee said. He could see the coupling weakening. However, he was suddenly pulled away. He fell onto the ground. Lee looked up to see that the trailer on the road had moved to where he was standing. "Whoa… nice save." Lee said as he stood upright.

"No sweat." Omid said.

Lee went over to examine the coupling. It was so close to breaking off, but it was out of his reach. Lee sighed and he said, "Omid… here." He gave the blowtorch to Omid. "The coupling's out of my reach."

"And you think it'll be in mine?" Omid asked with a chuckle.

"No but I'm going to hang you over that ledge so you can reach it." Lee said.

"The hell you are!" Omid exclaimed.

"Hmm… that's too bad. Here I thought you wanted to drive that train." Lee said with a smirk. "By the way, it's a blast to drive. I got a half hour behind the wheel."

Omid gritted his teeth and he grumbled. "Dammit… f***…" Lee could see the jealousy in Omid's eyes. Lee started up the blowtorch and held onto Omid as he dangled over the edge to cut the dangling trailer off from the rest of the rig. "Gosh… you're a real son of a bitch, aren't you?" Omid said.

"Shut up and start cutting." Lee said.

"Umm… guys… there's something coming!" Ben announced. Lee looked up and saw a huge herd of walkers limping toward the boxcar. It was surprising. There had to have been at least a hundred walkers heading toward the train. No doubt that there was more.

"What the hell is that?" Omid exclaimed.

"We gotta go now!" Ben exclaimed as he came down from the boxcar.

"There must be hundreds." Lee said. "Omid, cut! Cut!"

"I am!" Omid said. There was a groan from the metal and Omid said, "Okay, it's going. Pull me up!"

Lee obliged and he pulled Omid back up onto the bridge. Lee could see the group members scurry onto the train as the herd drew closer. He was a bit worried, but his worry subsided when heard a loud thud on the ground below. It was the dangling trailer hitting the ground. The train was clear. "Kenny go!" Lee exclaimed.

The train started to move slowly. Just like when they left Wyatt and Russell, the train took time in going off. As a distraction, Lee kicked the blowtorch down onto the gasoline that was leaking out of the trailer below. It started a fire which would distract the walkers and serve as an obstacle for the undead creatures.

"Holy crap!" Omid said.

Lee turned and ran over to the other side of the bridge and got ready to jump off. Omid soon joined him. The train appeared underneath them. "We got to jump." Lee said.

"What? No way!" Omid exclaimed.

"Jump!" Lee said. The boxcar came into view. There wasn't much time to argue.

"Still no!" Omid said.

"Fine…" Lee said as he dropped down onto the boxcar. He didn't want to disappoint Clementine and get separated from her. He landed on top of the boxcar with a groan. He was thankful that he didn't bust anything. He sat upright to hear a loud shout. He saw Omid land on the ground while holding his leg. Lee went to the boxcar. As he got inside, he noticed Christa jumping out and running to help Omid.

Clementine smiled to see him, but Lee had to focus on getting Christa and Omid on the train. The young couple ran alongside the train. Instinctively, Lee chose to save Omid since he was injured. He got Omid inside as the train sped faster. Christa disappeared from view for a couple of seconds which horrified Omid.

"Christa no!" Omid exclaimed. He looked to Lee with a glare and he exclaimed, "You asshole, she's a woman and you left her behind!"

"You were hurt." Lee said.

Christa suddenly reappeared and ran inside. "It's okay, sweetie." Christa said to Omid. "I slowed down so you could get inside and to save some of my energy."

"Everytin otay?" Clementine asked. She was being held by Bud.

"Yeah… everything is okay." Lee said.

"Speak for yourself… my leg is f*****." Omid said.

"We're fine, Clementine. We're okay… Everyone's alive and that's all that matters." Christa said.

Lee stood up and took the toddler from Bud. "Thanks for looking after her, Bud." Lee said. The girl relaxed more in Lee's grip and she cuddled up to him.

"Any time." Bud said. "I think she missed you."

Lee chuckled before he patted her on the back. "It's okay sweetie. Those monsters won't get you." Lee said.

"I better go check on everyone else." Bud said. "I'll see if Katjaa can stitch up Omid's wound." He turned and went to the door that would lead to the locomotive.

Lee sat down with Clementine on his lap. He had her color along with Danielle. Since everything had calmed down, Chuck sat down and watched the toddlers play. Meanwhile, Christa helped Omid.

"I've never seen so many before…" Christa said.

"Do you… Do you think it's possible that the noise of the train attracted them?" Lee asked.

"Well… it wasn't exactly discreet." Omid said. "We could have heard that thing from a mile away."

"That's not good…" Vince said. "I didn't even think about this. I thought the walkers would disperse after losing sight of the train."

"It wouldn't matter." Omid said. "All they would have to do is follow the sound. Christa and I have been around these things for a long time. They're more attracted to sound than sight."

"And trust me… this thing is plenty loud." Christa said.

"Well... that ain't good." Vince said.

"Where are we going anyway?" Christa asked.

"Savannah. This train goes to Savannah." Chuck said.

Clementine gasped and she exclaimed, "My mommy an daddy are there!"

"We'll try to find your parents, Clem." Lee said. "Who knows… maybe they're okay."

"I hope so." Clementine said.

"Well wherever we're going, we need to do our business there fast and leave before that herd catches up." Christa said.

"I guess it won't do any good to ditch the train now." Vince said.

"It probably won't… At least with the train we can some distance between them and us." Omid said.

The door opened with Katjaa and Bud entering the boxcar. "Let me take a look." Katjaa said as she looked at Omid's leg.

"Are you a doctor or a nurse?" Christa asked.

"Neither… I was a veterinarian." Katjaa said. Christa's eyes widened when she heard this.

"It's alright. Katjaa's got plenty of experience under her belt." Bud said.

Christa sighed and she nodded.

Lee glanced back to Clementine. He was glad that the toddler was so happy, but part of him hoped that her parents weren't in Savannah. He kicked himself for even thinking that, but he enjoyed the little girl. He loved her. He didn't want her to be taken away by her parents. All he could do was enjoy what little time he had left with the toddler in case her real parents were still alive in Savannah.

"So… is that a flower?" Lee asked Clementine.

"Yeah. I like flower." Clementine said.

"I bet you do. Are they pretty?" Lee asked.

Clementine nodded and she said, "Yeah." She continued her drawing until she suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, baby girl?" Lee asked.

"I hungy." Clementine said.

"Me too." Danielle said.

"Well… I guess we ought to fix that." Lee said. He looked around in Clementine's bag until he found some animal crackers, applesauce, a cheddar cheese cracker snack, and her drink. She began to eat the cheese and cracker snack while taking sips of her drink while Lee played with strands of curly dark brown hair. "You got some wild hair for your age."

Clementine giggled and she asked, "What that mean?"

"Your hair's long and a bit messy." Lee said. "I should have put it up last night."

"Mommy say same thing." Clementine said.

"Yeah… that's how moms are." Lee said. He tried to untangle the girl's wild curly hair as she finished eating and started to draw and color in her coloring book. Lee was amazed by how calm she could be. At this age, children should be bouncing off the walls, but both toddlers were very calm.

The evening soon turned into night and the group members soon turned in for the evening. Once again, Bud and Kenny switched places on the control of the train.

 **Afternoon**

The group walked through the streets of Savannah in relative silence. The toddlers and Duck were told to be quiet to avoid drawing any attention. The toddlers seemed content. They kept looking around at the nearby buildings while staying close to their guardians.

"How's Omid holding up?" Lee asked.

"I'm fine." Omid said.

"No you're not. You're in pain… You need to rest." Christa said. She turned to Lee and she said, "He needs to rest."

"You're right… Ken, hold up." Lee said.

Kenny ignored Lee as the group slowed down to a halt. "Ken… Omid needs to rest." Bud said to Kenny.

Kenny grumbled before he turned around and he said, "We're almost to the river… almost to the boats."

"Then it won't hurt anything if we stop for a few minutes." Bud said.

Kenny shook his head and grumbled something incoherent. Meanwhile, Omid huffed as he sat down. "Thanks guys…"

However, the group's minute of rest soon came to an end when they heard a bell. It sounded like a church bell. It was deep and loud.

The group tensed up and Omid got on his feet. "What that?" Clementine asked. "Is it bell?"

"Yeah… it is." Lee said. He and Vince picked up the toddlers. The two girls didn't complain much to the adults' surprise.

"No one's ringing that bell. It's on a timer." Kenny said.

Lee checked his watch and he asked, "What bell rings twenty past the hour?"

"Regardless, we need to get off this street before every walker in this city gets here. That bell will lure them." Bud said.

"What about the boat?" Kenny snapped.

"Go get your damn boat if it's so important to you." Bud said. "The rest of us are going to get to safety."

"Kenny… please… just listen to him." Katjaa said.

Kenny growled and he said, "Fine… We'll do it your way… for now."

Bud huffed before he ran down the street and went to one of the houses. Several walkers were limping toward the sound of the bell as Bud whipped around a turn and went into the backyard of a large house. The group members followed him as the walkers growled and groaned. A couple walkers tried to follow the group but they were unable to keep up.

The group entered the fenced-in backyard of a large house. In the group's haste to get in the backyard, Omid tripped. He groaned in pain as he hit the ground. "Shit…" Christa muttered. She went to his side as Kenny and Ben rushed over to try and get the door open. Meanwhile, Bud took care of the two walkers at the fence.

"I'm fine…" Omid said.

"You are not fine." Christa said. "You opened up your wound. You're bleeding everywhere… It's going to get infected… then we're going to be in serious trouble."

"No offense, but you really need to work on your bedside manner." Omid said.

"Kenny, how's that door coming?" Bud asked.

"I'm working on it. I'm working on it." Kenny said.

"Here… Let me have a go at it." Chuck said as he walked over to the door. "Lock-picking happens to be one of my skills." He started to mess with the door along with Kenny and Ben.

"Down pwease." Clementine said.

Lee smiled and he said, "Okay but don't go anywhere near the fence." He placed the girl on the ground.

She smiled to Lee and she said, "Otay." Vince did the same and the two girls scampered off to explore their new surroundings.

Lee made sure to keep an eye on the two girls, but he also wanted to go over and talk to Bud. "How are you doing, Bud?" Lee asked.

Bud sighed and he said, "I can't stop thinking about her… I had a dream about her last night. The world was back to normal. We… We were married, had kids, got old..." He sighed before he continued. "Then I woke up…"

Lee frowned. He knew that he was talking about Carley. "I'm sorry, Bud… We all are…" Lee said.

Bud sighed and he said, "I should have killed Lilly when I had the chance. I won't make that mistake again."

"Bud… it's over. Lilly's dead." Lee said.

"Yeah… but I should have never let it go that far. I should have stopped her… Maybe then… Carley would have made it." Bud said.

Lee huffed and he said, "We know better now… We'll never let something like that happen again."

"Yeah…" Bud said.

"Yes… dammit!" Kenny exclaimed.

Chuck turned and he said, "I'm a little rusty, but we're in."

"Good job, Chuck." Bud said. He walked over to the door as Kenny and Ben went inside. Chuck went over to help Omid, while Vince and Lee went over to get Clementine and Danielle.

"Come on girls. Let's get inside." Vince said.

"But we not done looking yet." Danielle said.

"You can look around later." Vince said. "Let's get inside, okay?"

"Otay…" Danielle said. She took his hand and he led her inside.

Lee also took Clementine's hand and led her inside. "Whoa, this place is huge." Duck said in ecstatic voice.

"Ducky…." Katjaa said with a chuckle.

"We better take a good look around to make sure that this place is abandoned." Bud said.

"Yeah… sounds good. The kid and I will look upstairs. You and Chuck check downstairs." Kenny said.

"Alright." Bud said.

Kenny went upstairs with Ben following along while Bud looked around the bottom floor. Christa helped Omid to the nearby sofa while Duck and the two toddlers started to draw and color.

Omid groaned in pain as he laid down on the sofa. "Sorry." Christa said.

"No… it's okay… Feeling better by just being off my feet." Omid lied. "Thanks babe."

"I can tell you're in pain…" Christa said.

Omid chuckled and he said, "I never really was good at lying."

Katjaa went over and checked the wound. "Omid…" Katjaa said as she looked it over.

"Can you help him?" Christa asked.

"I… I can't… We're all of out of medication and bandages." Katjaa said.

There was a loud crash from within the other room. Lee and Vince jumped at the sound and went to the source of it. "Hey!" Bud said.

"Don't move." A woman's voice was heard. Lee recognized the voice. It sounded familiar to him, but he didn't know from where.

He and Vince ran into the kitchen to see a woman holding Bud at gunpoint. Lee's eyes widened when he saw the woman. It was Diana… Clementine's mother. He knew it was her. She had thinned out from the photo that he saw of her, but he could tell that it was her.

… **To be continued.**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Hey guys… Sorry it took so long to get this thing posted. Things really got out of control… I had a bunch finals to do… but now I'm back for a little while.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

"Don't move… or your friend here gets shot." Diana said.

"Calm down… We don't want any trouble." Vince said.

"Yeah? Well neither do I. So I suggest you tell your boss to stop searching for me." Diana said. "Tell Crawford that his little manhunt is over and that he needs to leave me alone."

"Crawford? We don't know anyone named Crawford." Vince said.

"Please? A bunch of men burst into this house and you're saying that you don't work for some lunatic madman?" Diana said.

"We're just people!" Vince exclaimed. "We had no idea this place was occupied."

"Wait…" Lee said. "I know you."

"Know me how? You are with Crawford, aren't you?" Diana said.

"No… I heard your voice before. You're Diana. Your husband's name is Ed and you have a baby named Clementine." Lee said.

Diana's eyes widened when Lee mentioned the baby's name. "How… How did you know that?" Diana asked. "Were… Were you one of my neighbors… I never was good with faces…"

"No… a couple days after everything happened, I somehow got in your backyard. I went inside and heard you on the answering machine… then I found your daughter. I've been taking care of her ever since." Lee said.

Tears formed in Diana's eyes and she said, "M-My baby… She's alive?"

"Yes…" Lee said.

Suddenly Diana released Bud and she ran off in the direction of where the men came from to find Clementine. Bud huffed from being held at gunpoint and tried to steady himself.

"Bud, you alright?" Lee asked as he walked up to his younger brother.

"Yeah…" Bud said. "That was close. So… that's Clementine's mother? I thought she was dead."

"So did I." Lee said. "Her last message didn't sound good, but… I know that's her."

"Well… I guess she's got a lot of explaining to do. We need to know what happened and… who this Crawford guy is." Bud said.

"Yeah…" Lee said with a nod. He turned and headed back to the living room. Bud and Vince followed behind him.

The three men entered the living room with Diana holding Clementine close. It seemed that both were crying.

"Is everything okay?" Lee asked.

Diana huffed and nodded her head. "Thank you… Thank you so much for protecting and taking care of my baby… She's all I have left." Diana said.

Lee smiled and he said, "You're welcome. You should be proud of her. She's a sweetheart."

Diana smiled and she looked down at Clementine. "Did this man take good care of you?"

Clementine nodded and she said, "I love him. He like daddy."

Diana looked up and she smiled. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome." Lee said. "I'm Lee."

"Well, Lee… I owe you a lot for keeping her safe." Diana said.

"You don't owe me anything. I'm just glad that I was there." Lee said.

Diana smiled as the group heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Lee turned and saw Kenny and Ben.

"What's going on? Who's she?" Kenny asked.

"This is Diana… She's Clementine's mother." Lee said.

"Lee… you can't go and believe every little thing you hear. We don't know her." Kenny said.

"I know it's her. I found a picture of her and her husband in Clementine's home. They were holding Clementine in the photo." Lee said. "I mean come on Ken… Doesn't she look like Clementine?"

Kenny grumbled before he continued, "Okay… So, if you are her mother, then where were you for the last several months?"

"Kenny." Katjaa said in a disapproving tone.

Diana frowned and she said, "I wanted to get home so badly… but… it didn't work out. When all of this happened, I went to find my husband at the hospital and… he became one of those things… I thought I was going to die, but out of nowhere, these guys with guns saved my life. I knew better than to go home straight away. I wasn't strong enough at the time… so I reluctantly stayed… They taught me to get stronger so I can handle myself. By the time that I felt confident enough to go out there by myself came around, the men that saved me turned into absolute monsters. They started to kill off the elderly, children, and the sick. I barely made it out…" It was obvious that Diana was upset over what had happened.

"Mommy okay?" Clementine asked. "Where daddy?"

Diana sniffled before she looked to Clementine. "I'm sorry baby girl. Daddy's in Heaven."

"But I not want him in Heaven. I want him here with me and you." Clementine said with tears forming in her eyes.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry." Diana said as she hugged Clementine. The toddler started to cry along with her mother. Diana did her best to comfort Clementine, but she was barely keeping it together.

Lee went over and placed a supportive hand on the toddler's back. "Everything will be alright." Lee said. His words brought a sense of comfort to the toddler.

He looked to Diana who was smiling at him. "Thank you."

Lee nodded and he stood back up. "I'll give you some time with Clem. I'm sure you got some catching up to do." Lee said.

Diana nodded before she looked back to Clementine. Lee went out to the kitchen with Bud following him. "Hey, you alright?" Bud asked.

"Yeah… I'm glad Clem's got her mother back, but… where does that leave me… I've always wanted to have a kid… a family." Lee said as he leaned against the counter.

"You still can." Bud said. "I mean… it's not like Diana's going to force you to stay away from Clementine, and we all know that Clem loves you."

Lee nodded his head and he said, "I… I don't know, Bud. I don't want to get in the way of Clem and the only family that she's got left."

"Lee, did you ever feel like Carley was in the way back at the motor inn?" Bud asked.

"What? No, of course not. You know I liked her, Bud. You know that I was happy for you two." Lee said.

"Well… think about your current situation. As strong as Diana is, she's going to need help in raising her daughter, and you saved her daughter at the beginning of all of this." Bud said. "You're not going to come between them. You're going to help them."

"I… I hope you're right, Bud." Lee said as a small smile formed on his lips.

"Of course I'm right. I am smarter than you after all." Bud said with a smirk.

"Now I don't know about that." Lee said with a chuckle.

"Come on you two…" Kenny said as he came into the kitchen with Chuck following behind.

"What's going on?" Lee asked.

"The herd out there has died down. We're going to go look for that boat." Kenny said.

"Are you sure, Ken? What about those people that Diana was talking about?" Bud said.

Kenny scoffed and he said, "Are you actually believing what she said? Come on." He turned and walked out the door.

"I guess I don't got much else to do." Chuck said.

"So what is your plan, Chuck?" Bud said. "You've been all by yourself through this. Why do you want to be with us?"

"Well… I think most of ya are good company, and the kids are fun to watch… I miss having some of my own… They always manage to keep your spirits up." Chuck said.

"Well, thanks for sticking around." Lee said.

"Sure thing." Chuck said. He walked out of the kitchen to follow Kenny. Lee and Bud did the same and left the house.

* * *

The group of men made their way down the street to get to the harbor to find a boat. Kenny took the lead. He kept looking around.

"Ken… is everything alright?" Bud asked. "You haven't been yourself for a while now."

"I… I'm fine…" Kenny said. "I just want to get on a boat so I can keep my family safe."

"They're fine, Ken. The group is looking out for them." Lee said.

"I hope you're right." Kenny said. "As far as I'm concerned, I won't feel safe until we're off the mainland."

"And then what? Where will we land?" Bud asked.

"It don't matt-" Kenny said, but he stopped himself when the whole group heard a bell in the distance. Kenny growled as he pulled out his handgun. "That stupid f*** is toying with us again."

"Hold on… It sounds like it's coming from that direction." Chuck said as he indicated to the opposite direction from the river.

"Get down!" Bud said. He ran over to a nearby alley with the other three men following him. They watched as several walkers limped and crawled toward the direction of the sound.

"What the f*** is going on?" Kenny spat.

"I don't know, but whoever's ringing that bell might be doing us a favor." Lee said.

"Whatever man. I find who's ringing that bell, and I'll f****** ring their bell." Kenny spat.

"Good one." Lee said with a chuckle.

The sound of the bell soon ceased. "It looks like it's clear…" Bud said. He got out from cover, but he kept his stare aimed at the street that they just came from.

Kenny stood up and walked down the road to the river. "I think we're good, Bud." Lee said.

They turned around but were surprised to come face to face with a group of survivors. "Well… what do we have here." One of the men said as he approached the group. "I don't think I've seen you people before."

"Who the f*** are you?" Kenny inquired.

"Oh you're definitely not from around here. You see… We're known as a little group called Crawford. Our mission is simple. Survive." The man said. Lee didn't like this. They were all armed with assault rifles and handguns.

"Funny… we have the same goal." Chuck said.

"Listen… we don't want any trouble here." Bud said. "We came down to the river to look for a boat."

The man chuckled and he said, "Well son… I'm afraid you're out of luck. You see we own this whole city… Anything worth scavenging is ours."

"And that includes everything you have." Another man spoke up.

"F*** that." Kenny spat.

The first man stepped up and punched Kenny in the face. Kenny groaned as he fell back onto the ground. "Hmm… let's try this again. You give me what I want, and I won't kill your ungrateful asses."

"We decline." Bud said as he pulled out his handgun and shot the man in the face.

"F***!" One of the men said. The look of confidence that they had earlier was replaced by surprise and then anger.

"Kill them!" Another man said.

Lee ran for cover to get away from the men. He turned back and fired at a man who was chasing after him before slipping into an alley. He couldn't believe what Bud just did.

Lee huffed as he stopped at an opening. He looked around for his fellow group members. "Bud? Kenny? Chuck?" Lee said. He heard distant gunshots as he looked around. He swore under his breath when a gunshot flew past him by mere inches. He ran over to a dumpster and hid so that the men couldn't see him.

He heard footsteps with a couple men panting. "F****** asshole… got away…" A man's voice was heard.

Lee could hear a muffled voice over the radio.

"No matter… we got two of them." Another man said.

"What about the other one?" The man said.

"Dead. They didn't have a choice." The other man said. "We'll let Oberson Crawford deal with the other two."

"Sounds good." The man said.

Lee heard footsteps going in the opposite direction from where he was. He could tell that they were going away from him since the sound of the footsteps was fading. Once they were far enough away, Lee got up to get as far away from the opening as possible. He never would have thought that Bud would kill someone like that. However, he also didn't think that anyone was in the city. It seemed like a ghost town when he and his group got inside the city.

Lee got a few yards before he was stopped. A figure appeared at the end of the alley. The figure wore a red hooded sweatshirt, a surgical mask, brown cargo pants, and black shoes. Lee went for his gun, but the figure was too fast. The figure disarmed him and pinned him against the wall.

"I saw what happened." The figure said. "I don't know if I can trust you, but… we have a common enemy." It sounded as though the figure was a woman. Now that Lee had a good look of the figure, there were several feminine features. His suspicions were confirmed when she removed the surgical mask and pulled the hood down.

"Now… I want answers. Who the hell are you and why are you here?" The woman said.

"My name's Lee. I was a… I was a history professor at the UGA." Lee said. "I came here with my group."

"Well that was a bad idea." The woman said. She relaxed her grip on Lee. "The name's Molly."

"Who were those guys?" Lee asked.

"Assholes… Their leader is a man named Oberson Crawford. When the city went to shit and the military failed, he gathered several survivors and put up a wall around a section of the city. When walkers became less of a problem, he started to shift his focus on the sick, elderly, and kids." Molly explained.

"He killed them?" Lee said.

"He definitely killed the sick and elderly. Most of the kids were forced to leave… which is a death sentence." Molly said.

"My gosh…" Lee muttered. He couldn't imagine someone doing that. He looked up to Molly and he said, "My group and I don't work that way."

"That's good." Molly said. "Maybe I can trust you."

Lee nodded before he said, "I better get back to my group. We need to figure out a way to get Bud, Kenny, and Chuck back."

"Alright. Lead the way." Molly said.

Lee nodded and he walked in the direction of the large house that his group was in. Molly walked alongside him. He looked around the streets and he said, "For a city, this place doesn't have many walkers."

"Walkers?" Molly said.

"Those walking corpses that eat people." Lee said. "That's what my group and I call them."

"Oh… you can thank Crawford and his gang of assholes for that." Molly said. "They've killed quite a few, and if a building is deemed too dangerous to go into, they board it up."

Lee looked over to one of the nearby buildings and he said, "I see. So how do you know about them?"

"Everyone knew about them. Rumors spread around like a ghost story except this one was real." Molly said. "So what about you and your group? How'd you get here?"

"We were on a train." Lee said. "Got us to Savannah in a couple of days."

"Okay… I guess that explains things to an extent." Molly said as they rounded a corner. Lee could see the house, but he could also see a car parked out in front of it. The car wasn't there before, and most disturbing, the car was intact. Every car in the city appeared to have been picked clean.

"Oh no…" Lee muttered.

"I take it that car doesn't belong to you." Molly said.

"No, it doesn't." Lee said. He raced toward the house with Molly running behind him.

… **To be continued.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long hiatus. I had no idea how to proceed with this fic. Basically, I wanted to continue the plot, but I also wanted to have more moments of Clementine and Danielle being fun, goofy, and adorable toddlers… I'm hoping that I can finish this fic soon.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** _ **The Walking Dead**_ **. All rights reserved to their respective owners.**

Lee entered the house as quietly as he could. It wouldn't have mattered how he would have entered. Inside, it was very loud. He could hear the toddlers' cries and a man ranting. Lee went in the direction of the yelling and crying.

"You… You have no idea how I feel! You don't know my suffering, but now… you will." A man's voice was heard. Lee got closer and closer to the voice. He was in the living room. He heard a pained groan which was followed by the man shouting. "Where is the rest of your group? Where are those bastards that left my family to starve!"

"I don't know what… you're talking about!" A hoarse voice replied. It was Vince.

"That is a f****** lie and you know it!" The man hissed.

Lee peeked out from the hallway to see Vince in a chair. He was strapped to the chair with an unknown man in front of him. It appeared that he was torturing Vince.

Lee huffed before he went for his handgun. This would only end in one way. In a flash, he pulled out his handgun and fired a bullet into the unknown man's head. The man's body fell onto the ground.

The two toddlers cried from the gunshot. Lee ran over to get Vince out of the chair. As he ran over, he noticed that Katjaa and Duck were injured. Duck was in worse condition. It appeared he had been shot in the abdomen, while Katjaa was bleeding from her arm.

"Lee… good timing…" Vince said.

Lee sighed and he said, "Not good enough… Is everyone else alright?"

"Physically… yes…" Diana said with a frown. "Emotionally… no."

Lee cut the straps that kept Vince in the chair. He groaned as he got up. "You might want to take it easy man. You don't look too good."

Vince huffed and he said, "I know…" He looked around and he said, "Where's everyone else?"

"Crawford's got two of them…" Lee said. He noticed Diana's eyes widened when he mentioned Crawford.

"Crawford?" Vince said. He looked to Diana and he said, "Do you know about this guy since you mentioned him?"

"Yes…" Diana said. "Crawford oversees the community that I was at." She looked over to Duck and Katjaa before turning to Clementine who was whimpering in her arms. "Baby, I need you to go to Lee for a little bit. I have to help Katjaa."

"No!" Clementine exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to." Diana said. "I have to help Duck." She managed to give Clementine to Lee before she went over to Katjaa much to Clementine's dismay.

"Don't worry. I'll take over. I was a doctor before all of this." Katjaa was still worried but nodded. "Put some pressure on the wound." She grabbed her backpack. Diana then gestured Katjaa to follow her and the two women rushed upstairs with Duck.

Lee bobbed the girl in his arms hoping to soothe her. "Whoa… I didn't think I would have ever seen babies again." Molly said as she approached Lee. "I'm guessing you're the dad."

"Not exactly." Lee said. "But I have been looking after her since day one."

Clementine's whimpering ceased, and she looked to Molly who smiled at her. "She's a cutie. I'm sure you spoil her rotten." Molly said.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do at this age?" Lee asked.

Molly scoffed and she said, "Yeah if you want to end up with a little monster by age five."

"Touché." Lee said. He continued to bob the girl in his arms who seemed to be calming down now. He looked over to Vince who managed to calm Danielle down. "So… what the heck happened here?" Lee asked.

"I don't know…" Vince said. "He just came in here and started waving a gun around. We were completely off guard." He made a gesture to the dead man on the ground. "Before I knew it, he shot Katjaa and Duck and started to make demands. He kept saying that his family died because of us."

"Hmm…" Lee said.

"What… What is it?" Vince asked.

"Do you remember when our group went to the St. John's and came back with all of that stuff?" Lee asked.

"Yeah… I remember. Why?" Vince said.

"You remember what Wyatt told us? The vehicle that they took the food and supplies from was a Volkswagen. There's a Volkswagen outside right now. I think it might be the same person that we robbed from." Lee said.

"That is nuts." Vince said. "Wy said that they left half of the food and supplies."

"I guess that wasn't enough…" Lee said.

"Dammit… We should have done something… Could have prevented all of this." Vince said.

"That bad word." Danielle said.

"Sorry." Vince said. "We should probably go upstairs. The girls shouldn't have to see that."

"I can keep an eye on them." Christa said.

Vince nodded and he said, "Thank you." The toddlers were less fussy now and were willing to let Christa look after them. Christa took them in her arms and went upstairs so that the rest of the group could talk.

"Alright. So what happened out there?" Vince asked. "I thought you, Kenny, Bud, and Chuck were on your way to get a boat… and who's this?"

"The name's Molly." Molly said. "Your friends got too close to Crawford." She turned to Lee and she said, "You're lucky you escaped."

"So what's this Crawford all about?" Ben asked.

"Well… it's a community full of assholes. They think it's survival of the fittest. Anyone who won't or can't abide by those rules are either killed or removed." Molly said. "I try to keep my distance from them."

"Dammit… And you're telling me that Bud, Kenny, and Chuck were caught by these guys?" Vince asked.

Lee shook his head. "Worse… Two of them were caught… One of them is dead." Lee said.

Vince was shocked to hear this. "Shit… I can't believe this."

"We have to get them back." Lee said.

"Are you crazy?" Molly asked. "There is only a few of us. Crawford has a whole army of mindless idiots at his disposal."

"I didn't say it was going to be easy." Lee said. "I can't just do nothing… They got my brother."

"Lee… we need to think this through… We don't have enough people. I'm pretty beaten, Katjaa barely knows how to hold a gun, and we have two toddlers and an injured kid with us." Vince said.

"I know… but who knows what those crazy f**** are going to do to them." Lee said.

"I know." Vince said. "I would have done anything to keep my brother safe… but we have to be smart about this." He turned to Molly and he said, "How many mindless idiots does Crawford have?"

Molly thought for a second before she replied. "There's about forty or so. There's some people within his group that aren't completely loyal to him."

"Why's that?" Lee asked.

"Well some of the people he has are parents." Molly said. "And they aren't too happy that Crawford forced their kids to leave."

"Are?" Omid asked.

Molly looked up to him and she said, "I meant 'were'. Anyway, they don't like the rules that Crawford's forced on them, but they're too nervous to do anything about it. Anytime someone doesn't want to follow the rules, it usually gets them killed."

"So… we could get some help from the inside?" Lee asked.

Molly sighed and she said, "Maybe… if we don't die first. Crawford is well armed. We'll die before we even get anywhere close to them."

"There's got to be a way." Lee said. "We can't just leave them to die." He contemplated on a plan for a few minutes, but he couldn't think of anything.

Molly sighed and broke the silence when she said, "I don't know what to tell you guys. I think you should cut your losses while you still can."

Everyone was surprised to hear her say this. "You have got to be kidding me?" Vince said.

"We can't just give up on them." Ben said.

"Ain't no way I'm doing that to Bud. I left him once already. I ain't going to leave him again." Lee said. The other two men and the teenager nodded.

"Look… I… Dammit… Fine. I may know a way to help you guys… but I really don't want to do it." Molly said.

"What do you mean?" Vince asked.

Molly sighed and she said, "All those kids that Crawford tossed aside and some of the people who had medical problems are… safe. They're in a morgue right now which used to be an old bomb shelter. It was a simple routine. I would go out, scrounge up supplies and try to make as much noise as possible."

"Why?" Lee said.

"So she could cover for me." Diana said. Lee and the group looked over to the women as she approached them. "While Molly created a distraction for Crawford and his men, I would grab medicine for the people who needed it. The system worked for a while, but then I got caught last time. I had to kill my assistant and make a run for it away from Crawford."

"I see… and that's when we found you." Vince said.

"That's right." Diana said. "I don't want them to get involved, but a couple of people in that group know the sewers inside and out. Perhaps I can go talk to those two members. We could use the sewers to get into Crawford."

"Is this actually possible?" Omid asked.

"It seems that way." Lee said. "Alright. The rest of us will get ready."

"I'll go with you. I'll watch your back." Molly said.

Diana nodded before she looked to Lee. "Lee… words can't express how thankful I am that you looked after my daughter all this time. I want you to make me a promise. If I don't survive, promise me that you will continue to look after her."

"Don't say that. You're all that she has left." Lee said. "You will make it."

Diana frowned and she said, "Life's not a guarantee anymore. I wish I didn't have to talk that way… Just… promise me, okay?"

Lee sighed and he said, "I promise."

"Good. Thank you." Diana said. She looked to Molly and she said, "I need to say goodbye to my daughter. I'll be ready to go after that."

"Yeah… take your time." Molly said.

"Okay. Thank you." Diana said. She and Lee went upstairs to find Clementine.

"How's Duck doing?" Lee asked.

"Hard to tell… Katjaa and I stopped the bleeding, but he still has a weak pulse." Diana said.

"Is there anything we can do?" Lee asked.

Diana shook her head and she said, "Just let him rest for now. He might feel better in a couple of days."

Lee nodded. They checked the rooms until they arrived at one of the doors and opened it. They saw Christa with both Clementine and Danielle in her arms. The two toddlers were fast asleep with pacifiers in their mouths.

Christa smiled at the two. Diana walked over to Christa and picked up Clementine. She carried the toddler over to the bed and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye baby girl. I got to go help my friends right now. You be good." Diana whispered. She placed the toddler on the bed while Christa placed Danielle next to Clementine. They then made their way out of the room.

"So… how was it?" Lee asked Christa.

Christa huffed and she said, "Babysitting them was not easy. They decided to make it into a game by making me chase after them up here."

"I thought I heard some squealing and giggling." Diana said with a smirk.

"Yeah… I went along with it until they wore themselves out." Christa said. "Then I grabbed them and started to read one of those baby books to them. Soon enough, they were fast asleep."

"Aww… You do a good job looking after them." Diana said.

"Thanks." Christa said as they went toward the stairs.

"You're welcome." Diana said. She looked over to Lee and she said, "Before I forget, I already fed Clementine. She had some peaches for lunch."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know." Lee said.

"You're welcome." Diana said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Lee watched Christa enter the living room to join Omid, Vince, and Ben while Diana went over to Molly. "I'm ready. Let's go."

"Okay. Stay close to me." Molly said.

Diana nodded before leaving the house with Molly. Lee went into the living room and looked over to the body on the ground. "Anyone want to help me with this?" Lee asked.

He was surprised when Ben got up and he said, "Yeah… I'll help."

"Thanks kid." Lee said.

The teenager nodded and helped Lee carry the body outside.

"What should we do with it?" Ben asked.

Lee shook his head and he said, "I don't know. Never really knew the guy. We usually burn the dead and anyone we didn't know or didn't care about." He recalled doing this back at the motor inn in Macon. "Can't exactly burn him… We might set the house on fire by accident and there's not enough walkers out there to get rid of him that way." He noticed Ben shutter. "You okay kid?"

Ben shook his head and he said, "I just… I never want that to happen to me… To be eaten alive."

Lee gave the teenager a sympathetic look before he said, "I understand, kid. Don't worry. We're going to do everything we can to keep you safe."

"I… Thanks… I know I'm not always there for you guys and… I did mess up at the motor inn… in more ways than one." Ben said.

"It's okay, kid." Lee said. "Look, we didn't know that was going to happen."

Ben shook his head and huffed. "It's all my fault, Lee… Everything…" Ben said. He huffed again before looking over to Lee. "I was the one who was giving the bandits supplies. I'm so sorry, Lee."

Lee looked to Ben with a horrified stare. "You… You put everyone in danger! We could have died, Ben!" Lee exclaimed.

"I know… I'm sorry… I wish I could take it all back…" Ben said. He seemed to be shaking.

Lee huffed to calm himself down and he said, "Just… why? Why would you do this?"

"I… I thought I could protect you guys. I thought if I gave them what they wanted they would leave us alone… but then Wyatt found it and… it all fell apart." Ben said. "I never meant to betray the group… I swear."

Lee sighed and he said, "Alright kid… I get it. You were… trying to protect us, but Ben, you should have talked to one of us at the very least. We could have taken action to prevent the attack."

"I… I wanted to, but I didn't think anyone would listen to me…" Ben said. "I won't ever do it again. I swear."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Lee said. He huffed before he said, "We'll talk more about this later, but for now, we need to take care of this guy."

"Okay." Ben said with a frown.

Lee looked around the backyard for any shovels. Burying the man was their only option. Upon seeing none, he went to the shed. He huffed as he tried to open the shed's doors. It appeared that the doors were stuck. After a few yanks, he finally pried it open; however, he wasn't ready for what was inside. "Holy shit…" Lee muttered.

"What… What is it?" Ben asked.

"It's a boat." Lee said as he stared at the large, white boat within the shed.

Ben got closer and looked in the shed. "Whoa… What are we going to do now?" Ben asked.

"Hmm… I'll talk it over with the group." Lee said. He grabbed a couple of shovels. "In the meantime, we got some digging to do."

"Okay." Ben said. He and Lee proceeded to dig up a grave for the unknown man.

* * *

After burying the man, they went back inside. "Thanks for the help, Ben." Lee said.

"No prob… It's the least I could do." Ben said. He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner and he said, "Could… Could you keep what I told you a secret? I'm afraid that… you guys won't want me to stay… knowing what I did."

"Yeah… I'll keep it a secret until you're ready, but you will have to tell everyone what happened eventually…" Lee said.

Ben nodded and he said, "I know." He walked away as Omid entered the room.

"So… job's done?" Omid asked. "Please tell me you got rid of the body as far away from here as possible."

Lee shook his head and he said, "No… We buried him in the backyard."

"Well that sucks. He's going to start haunting us now." Omid said. "He'll be our resident ghost. I wonder if we can start charging him for rent."

Lee scoffed and he said, "I don't know, Omid. How exactly is he going to pay us for rent?"

"That's a good point… Dammit… we won't be able to force him to leave for not paying rent since we can't touch him." Omid said with a disgruntled look on his face. "Who would have thought that having a resident ghost was going to suck."

Lee chuckled and he said, "I guess we'll figure it out. By the way, I found something in the shed in the backyard that could be useful. Can you go get Vince?"

"Sure." Omid said. "What did you find?"

"A boat." Lee said.

Omid's eyes widened and he said, "Nice dude. I guess our resident ghost will get an upgrade." He started to walk away while Lee just shook his head. "He'll go from being a resident ghost to a ghost pirate. That is so much better, and it's badass. Our neighbors are going to be so jealous."

… **To be continued.**


End file.
